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THE 

METHOD  OF  JESUS 


AN  INTERPRETATION  OF 
PERSONAL  RELIGION 


BY 

ALFRED  WILLIAMS  ANTHONY 

Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis  and  Criticism, 

Cobb  Divinity  School 
Author  of  "  An  Introduction  to  the  Life  of  Jesus  " 


SILVER,  BURDETT  AND  COMPANY 

New  York        BOSTON         Chicago 
1899 


Ad 


X.J'WJuLj 


Copyright,  1899, 
By  Silver,  Burdbtt  and  Company. 


TYPOGRAPHY   BY  C.  J.    PBTBRS  ft  SON, 
BOSTON. 


To  Her 

Whose  Culture  of  Mind  and  Heart, 

Sweetness  of  Disposition, 

High  Ideals, 

Patience  and  Charity, 

Have  Enriched  My  Life, 

And  Left  a  Precious  Heritage, 

Pig  Wife, 


632675 


PREFACE. 


In  recent  theological  thinking  a  wide  gap 
exists  between  two  schools.  Conservatives  re- 
iterate time-worn  conceptions.  Progressives 
proclaim  views  so  far  in  advance  that  only  spe- 
cialists can  keep  pace  with  their  rate  of  speed. 
Between  the  two  the  great  mass  of  Christians, 
dissatisfied  with  the  old  theology  because  of  its 
obvious  inadequacy,  yet  not  understanding  the 
new,  stand  in  perplexity,  uncertain  what  to  be- 
lieve. All  such  need  to  know  that  the  new 
theology,  wherein  true,  is  really  involved  in, 
and  as  yet  but  partially  evolved  from,  the 
old. 

Theology  is  but  man's  attempt  to  state  his 
conception  of  the  divine  nature  and  the  divine 
laws.  As  man  develops  in  capacity  to  appre- 
ciate the  Infinite,  and  perceives  ever  a  little 
more  clearly  the  operations  of  divine  energy 
and  the  expression  of  divine  thought,  his  the- 
ology must  change;  it  cannot  remain  at  a 
standstill.     But   he   will   need   no   new  Bible; 

5 


6  PREFACE. 

he  simply  needs  to  understand  the  old  Bible 
better. 

The  following  attempt  to  interpret  the  method 
of  Jesus  is  Biblical.  In  its  advance  it  seeks  to 
proceed  only  a  step  at  a  time.  If  offers  a  help- 
ing hand  to  those  who  move  cautiously  and 
slowly.  For  others  who  have  thought  long 
and  far  upon  the  topics  here  treated,  these 
pages  will  have  a  small,  if  any  message;  but 
the  earnest  hope  is  entertained  that  they  may 
be  a  real  help  in  stimulating  some  to  study, 
and  to  understand,  both  the  mind  and  the 
method  of  the  Master. 

A.  W.  A. 

Cobb  Divinity  School,  Lewiston,  Me. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    The  Ultimate  Principle 9 

II.    The  Radiance  of  his  Person 27 

III.  The  Abounding  Life 46 

IV.  The  Plan  of  Operation 65 

V.     Creative  Acts 82 

VI.  Rules  for  the  Life  Without  Ruels    .    .  103 

VII.    Transcendent  Repose 121 

VIII.  Victory  over  Self  and  Circumstance     .  137 

IX.    The  Ministry  of  Evil 154 

X.  Character,  the  Portal  to  Vision  .    .    .  168 

XI.  The  Evidential  Value  of  Life    ....  183 

XII.    Promoters  of  Peace 199 

XIII.     Perils  of  Omission 214 

XIV.  Want,  the  Prophecy  of  Supply  ....  224 

XV.    Progressive  Revelation 240 


THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    ULTIMATE    PRINCIPLE. 

Jesus  Christ  professed  to  present  to  men, 
in  substance,  the  final  form  of  religion.  When 
given,  it  was  not  elaborated  in  detail,  but  lay 
infolded  in  the  germ,  ready  to  develop  under 
favorable  conditions  and  in  due  process  of  time. 
Jesus  gave,  however,  the  ultimate  principle. 
What  is  that  ultimate  principle  ?  What  is  the 
essential  feature  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  ? 
The  creeds  and  sects  and  controversies  of  nine- 
teen centuries  show  how  variously  these  ques- 
tions have  been  answered. 

"God's  love,"  cry  some,  "is  the  chief  fact 
proclaimed  by  Jesus  ; "  and  they  set  forth  upon 
a  new  crusade,  as  if  under  a  new  standard.  A 
prominent  utterance  it  surely  was  on  the  lips, 
and  in  the  still  plainer  language  of  the  life,  of 
Jesus,  —  a  marvelous  truth  for  the  world  to 
know  and  the  church  to  con,  a  truth  too  little 
9 


10  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

understood  even  now  amongst  men ;  and  yet 
this  was  scarcely  the  chief  proclamation  of 
Jesus,  and  cannot  be  made  the  center  of  faith. 
Are  we  to  rely  upon  the  love  of  God  and  noth- 
ing more  ?  Is  his  love  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life  ?  While  the  very  essence  of  the  divine 
nature,  yet  divine  love  cannot  be  the  cardinal 
feature  of  religion.  The  love  of  God  is  not  the 
object  of  worship,  cannot  be  regarded  as  the 
expression  of  man's  relation  to  God,  is  not  reg- 
ulative of  human  destiny,  save  as  modified  by 
divine  wisdom  and  justice,  and  cannot  be  alone 
the  principle  of  man's  faith.  Divine  love  un- 
derlies, surrounds,  permeates,  and  determines 
the  characteristics  of  the  religion  which  Jesus 
revealed,  but  yet  is  not  the  chief  fact  for  man 
to  consider. 

Did  Christ  come,  then,  to  establish  primarily 
an  ecclesiastical  system  ?  Can  it  be  said  that 
the  church  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  ? 
Is  she  the  pivot  on  which  religion  revolves? 
Does  she  possess  exclusive  control  of  divine 
favors  and  blessings  here  on  earth?  In  sub- 
stance these  claims  have  been  made  for  her. 
Men  have  deemed  attachment  to  the  church, 
compliance  with  her  requirements,  and  confi- 
dence in  her  acts,  of  paramount  importance. 
Her  absolution  they  have  deemed  perfect,  her 
blessings  divine,  her  explanations  inspired,  her 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  11 

decrees  infallible.  Tendencies  in  this  direction 
exist  in  more  than  one  communion.  But  is  this 
the  true  core  of  what  Christ  brought  the  world  ? 
Does  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  he  proclaimed 
and  established,  mean  an  organization  circum- 
scribed by  human  suffrage,  with  membership 
therein  determined  by  the  decree  of  man,  one 
or  many  ? 

Perhaps  the  Apostle  Paul  magnified  faith 
more  than  did  Jesus,  and  thereby  turned  the 
thought  of  Christian  disciples  too  much  to  the 
systematic  statement  of  the  substance  of  that 
faith.  Certainly  the  Nicene  creed  gives  a  hun- 
dred-fold greater  prominence  to  abstract  theo- 
logical conceptions  than  does  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount ;  and  much  of  the  experience  of  the 
church  to-day  is  determined  by  the  inherited 
influences  of  that  creed,  rather  than  by  the 
teachings  of  Jesus.  It  was  not  faith  of  an 
abstract  character  that  Jesus  emphasized,  cer- 
tainly not  a  faith  that  embodied  a  definition  of 
sin,  and  an  explanation  of  salvation,  and  con- 
victions concerning  God's  sovereignty  and 
man's  free  agency.  When  Jesus  speaks  of 
faith,  it  is  invariably  of  a  faith  in  himself.  He 
is  supreme ;  faith  is  but  a  channel  leading  to 
him.  The  faith  which  means  merely  an  intel- 
lectual apprehension  and  syllogistic  statement 
of  Biblical  history,  chronology,  and  doctrine, 


12  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

while  perhaps  representing  orthodoxy,  cannot 
represent  Christianity.  Jesus  Christ  has  left 
no  evidence  that  he  was  a  great  theologian  in 
the  modern  sense.  He  set  forth  no  statement 
so  completely  as  did  Paul.  Works  upon  sys- 
tematic theology,  which  appear  in  his  name 
to-day,  would  seem  out  of  place  in  his  hands. 
Theology  is  important,  but  it  must  find  its 
center  in  him. 

Are  we  to  discover,  then,  the  emphasis  of 
Jesus  upon  works  ?  Surely  he  declared  that 
not  they  who  simply  cried  "  Lord,  Lord,"  should 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God ;  he  gave  in- 
structions about  doing  good  in  daily  life ;  he 
promised  rewards  for  merely  distributing  cold 
water ;  he  depicted  the  final  judgment  as 
phrased  in  recognition  of  various  charitable 
and  philanthropic  deeds,  such  as  become  the 
most  practical  system  of  Christian  ethics ;  yet 
Jesus  did  not  proclaim  as  ultimate  and  final  the 
virtue  of  good  deeds  and  the  necessity  of  noble 
living.  If  that  were  all,  Aristotle  and  Socrates 
and  Plato  might  have  sufficed  as  saviors  of  the 
world. 

Morality  has  been  decried  and  abused  in  time 
past  by  a  considerable  part  of  the  preaching  that 
meant  to  be  Christian.  Now  it  is  in  danger  of 
being  too  highly  exalted  by  another  part  of 
the  preaching  that  means  to  be  Christian.     But 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  13 

it  must  not  assume  more  than  its  right.  A 
Christian  is  not  a  Christian  in  spite  of  what 
he  does,  as  was  once  thought ;  because  of  faith 
he  cannot  presumptuously  commit  sin.  Antino- 
mianism  is  dead ;  let  it  be  dead ;  but  the  reac- 
tion must  not  follow.  Works  alone  do  not 
suffice.  The  center  of  religion  is  far  beyond 
them.  Christ  affirmed  that  the  virtue  of  a  deed 
lay  not  in  the  deed  itself,  but  in  the  spirit  with 
which  the  deed  was  performed.  Motive  sanc- 
tifies movement ;  intention  gives  character  to 
action;  devotion  ennobles  all  endeavor;  love 
hallows  labor.  Jesus  asked  for  works  done  in 
his  name.  The  true  value  of  the  works  lay  in 
their  relation  to  him. 

The  fact  is,  with  whatever  truth  he  pro- 
claimed, Jesus  laid  stress  upon  himself.  He 
employed  habitually  the  emphatic  "I."  "I  am 
the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life ;  no  man  cometh 
unto  the  Father  except  by  Me."  It  is  the  su- 
premest  egotism  the  world  has  ever  known  or 
dreamed  of,  an  egotism  steeped  in  humility, 
an  egotism  transformed  by  self-sacrifice,  an 
egotism  actuated  by  love;  it  is  a  self-con- 
sciousness, never  forgetting  itself,  yet  never 
seeking  its  own ;  it  is  self -justification  — 
"  which  one  of  you  convinceth  Me  of  sin  ? " 
—  yet  never  boastful;  it  recognizes  the  pos- 
session of   infinite  power,  yet   never  employs 


14  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

that  power  for  personal  comfort  or  personal 
safety.  It  is  the  unparalleled  paradox  of  all 
history. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  central  fact ;  he  is  the 
ultimate  principle.  He  stands  in  the  forefront 
throughout  the  New  Testament,  both  in  the 
Gospels  and  in  the  Epistles,  in  the  preaching 
of  the  apostles  as  well  as  in  his  own  declara- 
tions. John  came  preaching  him  :  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God."  Jesus  proclaimed  himself  with- 
out stint:  "I  am  the  door,"  "I  am  the  good 
shepherd,"  "I  am  the  bread  that  came  down 
out  of  heaven,"  "  Moses  wrote  of  Me,"  "  and  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me," 
"  I  and  my  Father  are  one,"  "  All  men  should 
honor  the  Son,  even  as  they  honor  the  Father." 
While  he  proclaimed  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  redemption  of  man 
from  sin,  yet  he  preached  himself  most.  He 
inaugurated,  as  never  before  nor  since,  a  re- 
ligion of  personality. 

The  apostles  preached  not  faith,  not  works, 
not  conversion,  nor  baptism,  nor  sanctification ; 
not  the  church,  not  theology,  not  creeds,  nor  the- 
ories of  God's  purposes,  plans,  government  or 
attributes  ;  but  they  preached  Christ,  —  Christ 
crucified,  Christ  risen,  Christ  living  as  savior, 
sanctifier,  strength-giver,  and  life:  Christ  the 
Son  of  God,  the  atonement  for  sin,  the  great 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  15 

example,  the  present  and  loving  friend.  In  all 
their  preaching  they  lifted  him  up.  The  sub- 
stance of  Peter's  sermon  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost lies  in  the  conclusion,  "  Therefore  let  all  the 
house  of  Israel  know  assuredly  that  God  hath 
made  that  same  Jesus  whom  ye  have  crucified 
both  Lord  and  Christ."  It  was  of  the  same  sub- 
ject that  Peter  again  discoursed  unto  the  people 
on  the  day  when  the  lame  beggar  was  healed  "at 
the  gate  of  the  temple  which  is  called  Beauti- 
ful : "  "  Unto  you  first,  God,  having  raised  up 
his  son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning 
every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities."  On  the 
next  day  thereafter,  before  the  rulers,  Peter 
and  John  bore  testimony  that  "  neither  is  there 
any  other :  for  there  is  none  other  name  under 
heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be 
saved."  It  was  the  Christ  foretold  in  prophecy 
of  whom  Stephen  preached.  Unto  the  eunuch 
"  Philip  opened  his  mouth,  and  beginning  at 
the  same  scripture  preached  unto  him  Jesus." 
Of  Paul  the  simple  record  is,  that  after  his 
conversion,  "straightway  he  preached  Christ 
in  the  synagogues,  that  he  is  the  Son  of 
God." 

This,  then,  is  Christianity's  own  central  fact, 
not  an  abstraction,  an  axiom,  an  obligation ;  not 
a  posture,  a  form,  a  genuflexion  ;  not  a  rite,  nor 
a  ceremony ;  not  an  offering,  a  gift,  nor  a  sacri- 


16  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

fice  demanded ;  not  a  place,  a  feeling,  a  mem- 
ory ;  nothing,  indeed,  but  a  personality,  a  living 
being,  the  Christ. 

Suppose  one  expounds  to  a  child  the  depths 
of  tenderness  and  the  patient  endurance  of  a 
mother's  love ;  or  lets  the  child  nestle  in  its  moth- 
er's arms,  weep  out  its  woes,  and  tell  its  joys  in 
the  sympathizing  ear :  which  method  will  reveal 
to  the  child  the  real  maternal  affection  ?  Can 
another's  eloquence  take  the  place  of  personal 
experience  ?  Was  ever  a  boy  asked  to  subscribe 
to  the  statement  that  his  mother  weighed  one 
hundred  and  forty-six  pounds,  stood  five  feet 
and  three  inches  tall,  was  composed  of  so  many 
parts  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  so  many  parts 
of  nitrogen,  so  many  parts  of  phosphates,  and 
so  many  parts  of  other  chemical  substances  ? 
Do  we  in  this  way  ascertain  whether  a  lad  loves, 
honors,  and  obeys  his  mother,  and  tries  to  imi- 
tate her  ?  Is  it  thus  we  relate  ourselves  to  per- 
sons ?  The  dialectics  of  affection,  of  friendship, 
of  maternity,  can  never  disclose  to  the  hungry 
human  heart  what  love  is,  and  what  friendship 
contains  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness  and  joy, 
and  what  "  mother  "  means  in  all  the  long  years 
of  life  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 

Alas!  it  has  been  only  in  religion  that  men 
have  thought  it  needful  to  inquire  into  devotion 
by  means  of  the  catechism,  to  ascertain  the 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  17 

heartbeats  by  investigating  what  the  head  con- 
tains, to  test  the  depth  of  love  by  the  strength 
and  lucidity  of  opinion,  and  to  estimate  the  value 
of  discipleship  by  the  correctness  of  theological 
views.  The  invitation  of  Jesus  to  the  labor- 
weary  and  the  heavy-burdened  is  like  that  of  a 
mother :  "  Come  unto  me  .  .  .  and  I  will  give 
you  rest ; "  his  call  to  men  of  sorrow  and  suffer- 
ing and  weakness  was  the  assurance  of  a  friend 
to  render  them  help,  to  share  their  griefs,  to 
relieve  their  perplexities,  and  to  enlighten  their 
ignorance. 

The  personality  of  the  Christ  is  far  above  all 
mere  formulae  of  religion  and  creed-statements. 
It  is  to  a  person  that  Christianity  has  ever  in- 
vited its  followers,  and  yet  the  very  disciples 
who  associated  with  him  three  years  in  his  Pal- 
estinian ministry  did  not  comprehend  his  person 
and  his  mission,  —  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time 
with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me, 
Philip  ? "  And  many  another  disciple,  even  after 
decades  of  discipleship,  fails  to  realize  his  dis- 
cipleship to  a  real  person,  a  living  spirit.  Chris- 
tianity in  its  essence  is  simpler  than  many  a 
Christian  thinks.  We  struggle  with  great  vol- 
umes, we  are  catechised  upon  profound  myste- 
ries, we  do  not  hesitate  to  formulate  opinions 
concerning  eternal  truths  of  which  the  begin- 
ning lies  in  the  counsels  of  God,  and  the  end 


18  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

terminates  with  eternity ;  we  profess  allegiance 
to  this  or  that  doctrine,  when  all  the  time  the 
simple  question  should  be,  What  is  Christ  to 
us  ?  What  is  our  relation  to  our  Friend,  Brother, 
Saviour  ? 

There  is  nothing  mystical  about  belief  in  the 
personality  of  Jesus.  If  one  believes  in  any  kind 
of  immortality ;  if  one  has  place  for  a  belief  in 
the  existence  of  spiritual  beings  of  any  nature,  if 
one  but  clearly  recognizes  the  psychic  phenom- 
ena, so  much  discussed  to-day,  of  the  continuity 
of  a  personal  mind,  for  example,  from  youth  to 
old  age,  while  the  physical  tenement-house  un- 
dergoes renovation  and  complete  replacement 
a  score  of  times,  or  of  the  telepathic  influences 
which  overleap  space  and  seem  independent  of 
mere  body,  or  of  the  mental  contents  which 
as  hopes,  aspirations,  and  convictions  transcend 
all  experience,  and  point  to  a  life  now  lived  that 
is  more  than  purely  material ;  if  indeed  one  has 
place  for  these  conceptions  in  his  thinking,  then 
has  one  a  natural  and  inevitable  place  for  the 
recognition  of  the  present  personal  existence 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

With  most  of  mankind  the  friends  who  died 
yesterday  are  not  dead ;  having  laid  aside  their 
material  forms,  they  are  living  still.  Only  the 
body  died.  The  tenement-house  crumbled,  but 
the  tenant  has  moved  forth  into  larger  quar- 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  19 

ters,  into  greater  freedom.  Jesus  lives,  as  they, 
yet  far  more  truly  ;  for  he  lives  without  limita- 
tion. After  his  death  he  proved  his  life ;  and  no 
fact  of  Christianity  is  more  completely  demon- 
strated, and  in  no  other  religion  is  there  one 
fact  so  clearly  proved  as  the  resurrection.  Be- 
fore the  crucifixion  he  manifested  the  scope  of 
his  possibilities  by  showing  his  nature  as  far 
above  that  of  man,  while  yet  living  as  man.  To 
believe  in  the  spiritual  existence  of  Jesus,  in  his 
attributes  which  overtop  space  and  time,  is  but 
the  legitimate  transcendentalism  that  notes 
whither  history,  science,  religion,  and  human 
need  point.  The  religion  of  personality  em- 
ploys present  tenses.  We  are  invited  not 
merely  to  an  historic  Christ,  but  also  to  a 
living   Christ. 

Of  himself  Jesus  said,  "  I  am  the  way,  the 
truth  and  the  life."  Paraphrased,  this  might 
read,  "  I  am  the  means,  the  end,  and  the  power ; 
the  final  goal  am  I,  the  avenue  leading  thereto, 
and  the  very  power  by  which  one  passes  over 
the  road ;  in  me  alone  are  destination,  route,  and 
power  of  locomotion ;  I  am  the  way,  the  truth 
and  the  life." 

Truth  surely  is  the  goal.  This  age  seeks 
truth.  What  are  the  facts  ?  That  is  the  in- 
quiry of  science.  What  do  the  facts  portend  ? 
What  lies  back  of  appearance  ?    These  are  the 


20  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

lines  of  investigation  pursued  by  scientists  and 
philosophers.  Mere  opinion,  mere  conjecture, 
phenomena  alone,  are  worth  less  to-day  than 
ever  before,  because  to-day  more  than  ever  be- 
fore, men  are  seeking  for  truth.  Even  some  of 
the  commotions  taking  place  in  many  of  our 
longest  settled,  most  conservative  convictions 
show  that  we  are  not  content  to  receive  inherit- 
ances from  the  past  unquestioned,  but  are  bound 
to  ask,  "  Are  they  true  ? "  and  probe  them  to  the 
core. 

So  Jesus  proclaimed  himself  as  the  end. 
He  is  the  solution  that  men  seek,  if  they  did  but 
know  it.  While  working  on  a  problem,  men  do 
not  know  the  answer  that  they  seek,  but  Jesus 
has  the  answer  all  worked  out.  He  is  the  re- 
ligous  finality,  when  he  is  fully  understood. 
He  does  not  profess  to  state  which  is  the  true 
system  of  therapeutics,  allopathy,  or  homoeop- 
athy, nor  to  declare  whether  each  and  every 
one  of  Darwin's  conclusions  concerning  the 
evolution  of  species  are  correct ;  nor  does  he 
give  the  least  suggestion  that  he  purposes  to 
solve  all  difficulties  in  geology,  biology,  astron- 
omy, or  chemistry ;  nor  that  he  will  explain  the 
composition  of  the  Pentateuch,  or  any  problem 
pertaining  to  the  physical,  material,  mental,  or 
even  moral  universe.  He  plainly  indicates  in 
which  domain  he  answers  inquiries,  and  pro- 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  21 

fesses  to  be  the  end,  truth.  It  is  the  spiritual, 
the  religious  domain  alone  :  "No  man  cometh  to 
the  Father  except  by  Me;"  "he  that  hath  seen 
Me,  hath  seen  the  Father  also."  In  man's  search 
for  God,  Christ  will  answer  questions.  He  is 
truth ;  here  he  follows  every  interrogation  point 
with  an  explanation,  but  not  with  a  period ;  for 
there  may  be  more  to  learn,  —  more  questions, 
more  answers,  more  growth,  more  truth. 

The  goal  is  ultimate.  He  who  comes  thereto 
need  seek  no  further,  though  at  the  goal  he 
needs  still  to  understand  the  true  significance 
of  his  attainment.  He  who  comes  to  the  ulti- 
mate principle  obtains  a  complete  revelation, 
though  not  yet  completed  within  himself,  for 
his  soul  must  assimilate  what  he  has  found,  and 
can  assimilate  but  slowly.  Nevertheless  he  has 
attained  the  vantage  ground  where  he  can  learn 
the  proper  relation  of  his  own  soul  to  the  di- 
vine ;  can  experience  the  appropriate  peace  and 
contentment  that  the  human  heart,  with  sin 
oppressed,  craves  before  its  sovereign,  and  can 
receive  the  stimulus  and  strength  that  weak 
humanity  requires  in  order  to  render  it  ade- 
quate for  divine  obligations:  "The  truth  shall 
make  you  free." 

"  I  am  the  way,"  said  Jesus.  One  city  lies 
forty  miles  distant  from  another ;  can  it  be  said 
that  the  way  to  the  latter  lies  through  the  lat- 


22  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

ter  ?  that  the  destination  and  the  route  are 
one  ?  Yet  this  is  what  Jesus  says  of  himself  : 
"The  way  to  Me  lies  through  Me."  Christ 
is  the  means  as  well  as  the  end ;  to  find  him 
one  must  make  use  of  him.  At  first  this  may 
seem  absurd,  but  only  at  first.  Christ's  seeking 
man  precedes  man's  seeking  him ;  his  overtures 
antedate  any  of  man's  desires.  He  is  at  the 
door  before  man  opens  the  door ;  to  find  him 
is  really  to  find  oneself  in  relation  to  him.  To 
know  him  a  little  is  to  learn  of  him  more ;  to 
see  him  dimly  is  to  bring  him  nearer ;  to  hear 
of  him  from  others  is  to  become  acquainted 
with  him  for  oneself.  It  is  the  fulfillment  of 
the  saying  of  old,  "To  him  that  hath  shall  be 
given."  A  little  of  Christ  reveals  more  of 
Christ,  and  it  requires  a  little  to  find  the 
more. 

Employing  Christ  to  find  Christ  is  as  diver- 
sified a  process  as  are  the  experiences  of  the 
human  heart  and  the  possibilities  of  human  life. 
No  two  start  from  the  same  point.  In  different 
directions,  at  different  angles,  they  approach 
one  common  center.  If  each  employs  what 
each  already  knows  of  Christ,  the  issue  will  be 
for  each  the  same.  To  put  in  practice  truth 
already  discerned  leads  to  more  truth ;  to  medi- 
tate upon  mystery  is  but  to  prepare  the  soul  for 
entrance  into  the  mystery,  and,  indeed,  to  pick 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  23 

away  little  by  little  upon  the  substance  of  the 
mystery  itself ;  even  telling  to  others  half-real- 
ized hopes  and  indistinct  impressions  is  to  limn 
upon  the  soul  in  clearer  outlines  every  aspect 
of  these  hopes  and  impressions.  It  is  by  taking 
the  truth  and  pondering  upon  it  that  the  truth 
becomes  vital. 

Every  little  truth  is  the  germ  of  a  great 
truth.  Involution  has  preceded  evolution  by 
the  infinite  distance  of  infinite  thought.  All 
was  implicit;  very  little  as  yet  has  been  ren- 
dered explicit.  When  the  mind  steadily  con- 
templates one  serious  truth,  confirmation  comes 
from  every  side,  even  from  the  most  unexpected 
and  unlikely  sources.  So  any  fact  in  Christ's 
life  and  utterances  and  influence  may  be  the 
starting  point  for  a  fuller  revelation  and  a  com- 
pleter understanding  of  him.  It  is  but  neces- 
sary to  begin. 

Jesus  is  also  the  life.  Life  means  vitality, 
activity,  strength;  it  may  be  called  power, 
although  it  is  not  mere  abstract  force;  it  is 
vastly  more,  for  in  man  life  involves  spiritual, 
as  well  as  physical,  functions.  But  Christ  is 
power  unto  his  disciples,  he  is  the  support 
and  strength  of  his  followers.  "  Without  Me 
ye  can  do  nothing,"  he  said  to  them.  "  My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,"  was  his  message 
to  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  that  apostle  straight- 


24  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

way  replied,  "  In  weakness  am  I  then  strong." 
Jesus  restores  flagging  zeal,  he  imparts  new 
courage,  he  quickens  drooping  energies,  he 
gives  large  outlooks  and  high  resolves  to  his 
disciples. 

But  we  have  no  warrant  to  claim  that  he  will 
always  bend  to  our  wishes  and  answer  our  weak 
prayers  just  as  we  make  them,  foolishly  often- 
times, though  uttered  in  his  name  and,  as  we 
may  think,  according  to  his  will.  Were  he 
so  to  yield  to  us  his  power,  he  would  but  re- 
pudiate his  own  wisdom,  and  accept  our  scant 
supply  instead.  The  attempt  to  dictate  to  the 
Almighty  in  regard  to  health  either  of  ourselves 
or  of  our  friends  belongs  to  no  kind  of  science, 
"  Christian  "  or  "natural."  That  the  Almighty 
has  power  is  not  in  question  ;  his  wisdom  alone 
is  at  stake,  —  a  wisdom  which  has  ordained  the 
laws  of  the  universe,  physical  as  well  as  spir- 
itual. 

In  the  sphere  of  spiritual  search  and  heart- 
inquiry  that  power,  however,  is  unreservedly 
available  for  man.  He  is  the  life  for  those  who 
seek  God :  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father 
except  by  Me."  For  entrance  to  God  Christ's 
help  is  needful ;  to  find  Christ  is  to  be  borne  on 
unto  God ;  to  enter  into  Christ  is  to  enter  into 
God;  "He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the 
Father  also." 


THE  ULTIMATE  PRINCIPLE.  25 

But  a  transformation  takes  place  in  this  fel- 
lowship. Two  friends  in  proportion  to  their 
intimacy  grow  alike.  Husband  and  wife  in  the 
union  of  close  accord  tend  to  conform  each 
to  the  other  even  in  physical  appearance.  In 
fact  all  sympathy  tends  to  assimilation,  and  love 
causes  coalescence.  So  in  the  fellowship  and 
friendship  of  Jesus  a  new  life  begins.  Regen- 
eration is  not  a  mere  figure  of  .speech ;  tha 
power  imparted,  the  means  employed,  the  knowl- 
edge acquired,  the  love  aroused,  work  changes 
in  our  very  natures  ;  all  things  become  new ;  we 
become  transformed  into  another  likeness,  into 
the  likeness  of  Christ.  We  begin  to  live  as 
never  before,  and  can  say,  in  the  words  of  Paul, 
11 1  live ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." 
The  divine  ideal  begins  then  to  be  realized 
within  us,  as  his  personality  and  ours  begin  to 
blend. 

Christ,  then,  is  ultimate.  Employing  him 
discovers  him ;  beholding  him  produces  con- 
formity in  type.  He  is  life,  not  merely  as  pat- 
tern, nor  yet  as  inspiration  alone ;  but  he  is 
a  transforming  power  amongst  men.  Nations 
most  imbued  with  his  spirit  advance  most 
rapidly  in  the  civilization  and  culture  of  Chris- 
tian intelligence,  philanthropy,  and  purity  ;  indi- 
viduals most  completely  indoctrinated  with  his 
principles,  while  amongst   men  in  very  lowly 


26  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

circumstances,  yet  dignify  their  lot  and  glorify 
human  environment  into  the  conditions  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  That  he  is  the  way,  the 
truth  and  the  life  is  demonstrable,  not  in  theory 
alone,  but  on  the  pages  of  history  and  in  the 
private  record  of  many  human  hearts.  The 
germ  of  nineteen  centuries  ago  has  not  yet 
fully  unfolded  into  the  perfect  form  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  but  the  development  is  in  process ; 
the  kingdom  of  God,  while  still  coming,  has 
already  come ;  the  ultimate  principle  has  been 
disclosed. 


CHAPTER   II. 


That  it  was  the  life  of  Jesus,  the  very  life, 
rather  than  the  record  of  that  life,  which  has 
influenced  the  world,  enlightening  it  and  re- 
deeming it,  is  not  difficult  to  discover.  The 
scantiness  of  the  record  itself  is  a  fact  in  evi- 
dence. The  entire  New  Testament  does  not 
equal  in  length  and  comprehensiveness  one  vol- 
ume of  any  of  the  well-known  biographies  of 
famous  men,  like  Boswell's  Life  'of  Johnson,  Irv- 
ing's  Life  of  Washington,  or  Carlyle's  Life  of 
Frederick  the  Great.  Then,  of  the  twenty-seven 
books  within  its  covers,  only  four  are  directly 
descriptive  of  Jesus,  in  bulk  a  little  less  than 
one-half  of  the  entire  New  Testament.  Then, 
too,  the  Gospels  duplicate  each  other  in  large 
part.  If  all  that  is  repeated  in  parallel  passages 
be  eliminated,  the  narrative,  reduced  to  very 
small  proportions,  will  present  the  true  dimen- 
sions of  the  recorded  history  of  Jesus,  the  whole 
in  length  scarcely  more  than  equaling  one  chap- 
ter of  an  ordinary  biography.    Has  such  a  narra- 

1  Some  sentences  in  this  chapter  are  repeated  from  my  "  An  Introduction 
to  the  Life  of  Jesus." 

27 


28  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

tive  as  that,  so  brief,  so  fragmentary,  so  obscure 
in  places,  been  the  means  of  stirring  the  world 
so  profoundly  as  Christianity  has  ?  Do  the  po- 
tency and  the  virtue  lie  in  the  record  ?  Impos- 
sible. Back  of  the  record,  more  than  parchment, 
more  than  phrases,  more  than  history,  more  than 
biography,  there  must  be  a  life. 

The  record  does  not  reveal  all  of  that  life. 
It  is  obviously  incomplete.  Of  the  sayings 
of  Jesus  it  has  preserved  but  comparatively 
few.  No  book  printed,  no  series  of  volumes 
ever  published,  no  manuscripts  ever  penned, 
could  contain  all  that  any  one  person,  how- 
ever taciturn,  in  the  course  of  three  years' 
contact  with  the  people  of  city  and  country, 
would  have  uttered  in  conversation  and  public 
address,  in  inquiries  and  answers,  in  exhorta- 
tions and  soliloquies,  in  prayer  and  praise. 
But  Jesus  was  not  taciturn  and  uncommunica- 
tive. It  was  his  very  mission  to  teach,  to 
preach,  to  proclaim  the  kingdom  of  God  as  at 
hand,  to  reveal  himself.  Yet  he  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake,  though  speaking  so  wonder- 
fully, had  by  him  no  phonograph,  no  steno- 
graphic reporter,  no  scribe,  no  private  secretary. 
Those  words  of  his  which  have  been  preserved 
must  have  burned  themselves  into  the  memories 
of  the  persons  who  heard  them,  as  living,  glow- 
ing samples  of  the  whole.     What  a  multitude 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  29 

of  sayings  have  been  lost !  But  more  than 
mere  words  is  now  transforming  the  world. 
Such  efficacy  lies  not  in  mere  language.  The 
life  itself  was  imparted ;  the  life  came  into  the 
world,  and  has  remained  constantly  disseminat- 
ing itself. 

Of  the  works  of  Jesus,  but  few  are  described 
in  the  narrative.  This  is  not  an  assumption, 
but  is  indicated  in  the  narrative  itself.  Of  the 
"mighty  works"  done  in  Chorazin  and  Beth- 
saida,  referred  to  by  Jesus  as  sufficient  to  have 
convicted  the  wicked  cities  of  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
had  they  been  done  in  them,  we  know  nothing. 
At  the  first  Passover  in  Jerusalem  "  n^any  be- 
lieved on  his  name,  beholding  his  signs  which 
he  did."  Of  these  signs  also  we  have  no 
account  whatever.  In  the  last  two  chapters  of 
the  Fourth  Gospel,  the  writer  plainly  says, 
"  Many  other  signs  therefore  did  Jesus  in  the 
presence  of  his  disciples,  which  are  not  written 
in  this  book  ;  but  these  are  written  that  ye  may 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God ;  and  that  believing  ye  may  have  life  in 
his  name ; "  "  And  there  are  also  many  other 
things  which  Jesus  did,  the  which  if  they  should 
be  written  every  one,  I  suppose  that  even  the 
world  itself  would  not  contain  the  books  that 
should  be  written."  Such  expressions  as  these, 
by  one  intimately  conversant  with   that  life, 


30  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

though  in  the  hyperbolic  language  of  the  Orient, 
yet  plainly  show  the  magnitude  of  that  life  as 
beyond  the  power  of  pen  or  tongue. 

There  were  also  many  persons  believing  on 
Jesus  of  whom  we  have  no  further  tidings  than 
a  casual  allusion  in  the  record.  At  that  first 
Passover  in  Jerusalem,  just  mentioned,  "many 
believed  on  his  name."  How  many  they  were, 
or  who  they  were,  or  how  long  they  continued 
in  discipleship  we  have  no  means  of  knowing. 
A  short  time  later  the  disciples  of  John  the 
Baptist  saw  so  many  coming  to  Jesus  for  bap- 
tism that  they  could  exclaim  in  exasperation  to 
their  Master,  "  Rabbi,  he  that  was  with  thee 
beyond  Jordan,  to  whom  thou  hast  borne  wit- 
ness, behold,  the  same  baptizeth,  and  all  men 
come  to  him,"  —  a  testimony  of  success  not 
elsewhere  amplified.  Because  of  Lazarus  many 
Jews  went  away  and  believed  on  Jesus,  and  at 
another  time  even  some  of  the  rulers  believed 
upon  him,  yet,  fearing  the  Pharisees  and  loving 
the  glory  of  men  more  than  the  glory  of  God, 
did  not  confess  him. 

In  all  these  directions  the  record  suggests 
influences  from  the  life  of  Jesus  upon  the  men 
of  his  time  reaching  far  beyond  the  mere  nar- 
rative. It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  an  exhaus- 
tive record  of  the  life  of  Jesus  does  not,  and 
could  not,  exist.     The  best  we  have  is  deficient 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  31 

in  an  account  of  the  words,  the  works,  and  the 
personal  influence  of  Jesus  as  he  moved  amongst 
men.  The  life  is  plainly  more  than  the  record. 
The  life  gives  radiance  and  brilliancy  and  glory 
to  the  record.  The  record  condenses  and  epit- 
omizes ;  the  life  was  vast  and  full.  The  record 
is  fragmentary  and  presents  gaps  ;  the  life  was 
continuous.  What  is  recorded  must  be  regarded 
as  but  specimens  of  the  whole ;  the  main  features 
are  delineated  and  the  chief  characteristics  are 
brought  out. 

During  all  his  ministry  Jesus  evinced  su- 
preme confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  his  own 
life  without  external  aid  or  support  of  any  kind. 
In  giving  himself  to  the  world  he  seemed  sed- 
ulously to  avoid  outward  acts  which  might  in 
any  degree  limit  his  life  to  mere  form.  He 
left  behind  him  no  written  word.  Had  he 
done  so,  what  a  "sacred  relic"  it  would  have 
been  for  glass  show  cases  and  long  pilgrimages 
and  "  holy  "  ostentation.  But  with  stylus  he 
committed  to  papyrus  or  parchment  no  auto- 
biography, no  diary,  no  memoir,  no  epistles 
even.  The  legend  which  arose  about  three 
hundred  years  after  his  crucifixion  in  regard 
to  a  correspondence  with  Abgarus,  king  of 
Syria,  has  in  it  no  ground  of  credence  what- 
ever. According  to  that  legend  Abgarus  wrote 
to  Jesus  with  the  request  to  come  to  Edessa 


S2  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

and  heal  the  king  of  a  certain  disease  from 
which  he  suffered,  and  Jesus  replied  with  a 
letter  saying  that  he  himself  could  not  come, 
but  that  after  his  resurrection  one  of  his  dis- 
ciples would  come  and  heal  the  disease  and 
teach  the  people.  The  text  of  this  alleged  let- 
ter, covering  about  twenty  lines  of  an  ordinary 
page,  is  preserved  in  a  Syriac  document  now 
in  the  British  Museum  in  London.  But  there 
is  not  the  slightest  trustworthy  evidence  that 
Jesus  ever  composed  a  word  of  the  epistle.  It 
is  an  invention  of  a  later  day.  Jesus  left  no 
written  word.  The  only  incident,  probably  au- 
thentic, of  his  making  letters  or  hieroglyphics  of 
any  kind  is  at  the  time  when,  stooping  down, 
he  wrote  with  his  finger  on  the  ground,  and 
said  to  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  "Neither 
do  I  condemn  thee  ;  go,  and  sin  no  more." 
And  yet  even  this  incident  is  not  found  in  the 
oldest  texts  of  the  New  Testament.  He  be- 
queathed no  literary  remains  to  the  world.  He 
gave  simply  —  yet  how  marvelously  —  his  life ; 
that  was  to  be  the  radiance  of  the  world. 

Jesus  did  not  even  add  his  signature  to  an 
account  of  himself,  thereby  authenticating  the 
narrative.  There  was  to  be  no  standard,  or 
copyright  edition  of  his  life.  He  directed 
no  one  to  write  his  biography.  While  giving 
instructions  to  his  disciples  to  teach  and  preach 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  33 

all  that  he  had  said  and  done,  he  designated  no 
one  to  act  as  historian.  The  little  band  of  fol- 
lowers had  its  treasurer,  but  never  a  secretary. 
Jesus  made  no  provision  for  the  composition  of 
a  record  and  the  preservation  of  documents. 
He  left  simply  his  life;  that,  like  the  leaven, 
was  to  be  self-propagating.  If  it  was  misunder- 
stood, he  could  calmly  suffer  it  so ;  if  it  was  to 
be  misrepresented,  he  was  willing  to  permit  all 
of  those  possibilities.  The  life  would  yet  assert 
itself  and  banish  error.  That  was  stupendous 
confidence  imposed  in  the  future. 

It  is  further  noteworthy  that  Jesus  himself 
baptized  no  one.  While  bidding  his  disciples 
to  baptize,  and  himself  receiving  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  rite  at  the  hands  of  John  the 
Baptist,  he  seemed  unwilling  to  give  occasion 
for  any  pretentiousness,  ever  to  claim  a  special 
excellence  in  the  descent  of  baptismal  merit 
through  external  channels  from  him.  Had 
he  personally  baptized,  then  some  men  would 
have  arisen  to  assert  that  no  initiation  into  his 
life  was  valid  save  that  following  in  direct 
course  through  an  unbroken  succession  from 
him.  The  life  would  have  been  limited  within 
Christo-derivative,  baptismal  bounds,  which  he 
was  unwilling  to  allow.  Judaism  already  had 
the  taint  about  it  of  rigid  formality  and  tra- 
ditionalism.    This  he  would  avoid. 


34  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

It  is  noticeable,  also,  that  while  Jesus  gath- 
ered about  him  a  band  of  disciples,  who  subse- 
quently proved  the  nucleus  of  the  Christian 
Church,  yet  he  did  not  formally  organize  a 
church.  No  mode  of  organization  and  govern- 
ment can  claim  precedent  or  indorsement  from 
him.  "  Apostolic  "  is  the  highest  sanction  any 
ecclesiastical  body  has  ever  hoped  to  deserve. 
In  his  presence  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian,  and 
Congregational  forms  stand  alike.  The  life  is 
limited  to  no  one,  but  may  flow  through  each, 
and  outside  of  all. 

In  giving  his  life  to  men,  in  healing  their 
infirmities,  relieving  their  distresses,  Jesus  fre- 
quently enjoined  them  strictly  not  to  tell  of 
what  he  had  done.  To  the  leper  he  -said, 
"  See  thou  tell  no  man  ; "  the  two  men  who  had 
been  blind  he  charged,  "  See  that  no  man  know 
it;"  when  by  the  Lake  of  Galilee  he  healed 
the  people,  he  "charged  them  that  they  should 
not  make  him  known;"  when  he  had  cast 
out  unclean  spirits,  "  he  suffered  not  the  de- 
mons to  speak  because  they  knew  them ; " 
when  he  had  raised  Jairus's  daughter  "he 
charged  them  much  that  no  man  should  know 
this ; "  the  dumb,  who  found  his  tongue  be- 
cause of  Christ's  healing,  was  bidden  to  remain 
silent  still  as  to  who  had  performed  the  cure ; 
and  even  when  the  disciples  had  confessed  him 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  35 

through  the  mouth  of  Peter  as  "the  Christ 
of  God,"  and  when  they  had  beheld  the  glory 
of  his  transfiguration  on  the  mountain,  he 
cautioned  them  to  tell  no  man,  or  at  least  not 
until  after  his  resurrection.  Such  prohibi- 
tions, so  numerous  and  so  strict,  seem  obvi- 
ously to  indicate  that  Jesus  wished,  so  long  as 
he  himself  was  amongst  men,  to  be  his  own 
means  of  revelation  unto  men,  not  allowing 
those  who  had  but  caught  for  the  first  time  a 
glimpse  of  his  character  and  mere  fragments 
of  his  life  to  pass  about  amongst  men  the 
meager,  imperfect  representations  of  that  life 
which  they  then  would  be  sure  to  give ;  for  the 
life  itself  was  at  hand,  to  reveal  itself,  needing 
then  no  intermediary,  no  representation. 

There  are  thirteen  such  prohibitions  re- 
corded in  the  Gospels,  and  but  one  command 
of  a  directly  opposite  character.  According  to 
the  Gospel  of  Mark  the  man  in  the  country  of 
the  Gerasenes,  from  whom  a  legion  of  demons 
had  been  expelled,  was  bidden,  "  Go  to  thy 
house  unto  thy  friends,  and  tell  them  how  great 
things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  thee,  and  how 
he  had  mercy  on  thee."  Here  there  is  a  mes- 
sage of  mercy  to  be  proclaimed.  Jesus  nowhere 
posed  as  a  great  healer ;  he  was  always  a  man 
of  mercy,  a  Christ  of  forgiveness  and  grace,  a 
Saviour.    It  is  certainly  probable  that  this  com- 


36  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

mand  rested  upon  the  man's  character,  he  be- 
ing one  who  could  appreciate  something  of  the 
inner,  spiritual  part  of  mercy,  and  probable 
that  it  rested  also  upon  the  consideration  in 
the  Master's  mind,  that  unless  that  home  heard 
by  way  of  the  healed  man  it  might  not  hear  at 
all  of  Jesus.  To  hold  men  in  check  until  they 
could  once  fairly  recognize  that  life  of  mercy 
and  grace,  was  to  favor  the  increase  of  the 
proper  recognition,  when  once  begun ;  it  was  to 
pause  a  while  for  the  determination  of  the  kind 
of  leaven  that  should  be  intrusted  to  the  whole 
lump. 

But  the  pure  radiance  of  that  life  can  be 
seen,  when  we  consider  that  the  earliest  and 
greatest  conquests  made  by  Christianity  were 
achieved  at  a  time  when  no  record  whatever 
existed,  and  the  life  was  disseminated  solely  by 
preaching  and  through  personal  contact.  Not 
one  of  the  twenty-seven  documents  now  consti- 
tuting the  New  Testament  canon  was  in  exist- 
ence until  a  score  of  years  after  the  crucifixion 
of  Jesus.1  Then  the  Epistle  of  James  and  the 
First  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians  were 
penned,  with  perhaps  a  year  or  two  between 
them.     None  of  our  present  Gospels  were  in 

1  The  world  has  been  saying  twenty-three  years ;  within  recent 
months  Professor  Harnack  of  Berlin  has  been  urging  a  period  of 
but  eighteen  years. 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  37 

existence  until  nearly  forty  years  after  the 
death  of  Jesus,  while  the  last  one,  the  Gospel 
of  John,  was  probably  written  fully  sixty  years 
after  the  resurrection.  At  the  time,  therefore, 
when  Christianity  was  making  some  of  its 
greatest  triumphs,  the  apostles  had  practically 
no  Bible,  certainly  no  New  Testament  what- 
ever in  its  present  form.  While  men  were 
devoid  of  the  Book  of  appeal  and  of  instruction 
such  as  we  have,  the  simple  efficacy  of  the  life 
became  the  more  apparent.  While  there  was  no 
record  to  vie  with  the  life  and  usurp  its  place, 
the  radiance  of  the  life  was  the  more  striking. 

Peter,  when  preaching  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, had  no  written  or  printed  Gospel  from 
which  to  preach.  Philip,  expounding  to  the 
eunuch  of  the  south  country  the  significance 
of  messianic  prophecies,  had  no  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  Luke,  or  John  to  cite  by  chapter 
and  verse.  Paul,  traveling  from  city  to  city 
and  proclaiming  the  message  of  the  cross  unto 
the  Gentiles,  had  no  Foreign  Bible  Society  be- 
hind him  putting  into  his  hands  translations  of 
the  Gospels  for  distribution  as  tracts  amongst 
the  heathen ;  he  was  without  sacred  documents 
save  those  of  the  old  covenant.  Through  all 
these  men  the  life  shone  with  intense,  yet 
simple  radiance.  Acquainted  with  Jesus,  they 
preached   Jesus;   understanding  his  life,  they 


38  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

disclosed  it  to  others ;  and  possessed  by  that 
life,  they  were  enabled  to  pen  records,  as  the 
need  was  felt,  and  to  amplify  its  application  as 
new  demands  of  human  nature  and  human 
experience  were  heard. 

But  the  life  was  the  great  fact.  In  that  age 
without  a  record  the  potency  of  the  life  became 
revealed.  How  it  spread !  By  it  three  thou- 
sand were  touched  and  transformed  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  Soon  a  persecution,  intended  to 
check  the  life,  simply  scattered  the  possessors 
of  it  abroad,  and  by  so  much  the  more  dissemi- 
nated the  life.  It  took  root  in  Phenicia  and 
Cyprus  and  Antioch.  From  Antioch,  under  an 
epithet  at  first  given  in  derision,  —  "  Christian," 
—  but  soon  exalted  to  honor,  with  Paul  and 
Barnabas  the  seed  was  borne  forth  to  fill  the 
world.  With  Paul  it  spread  throughout  Asia 
Minor,  thence  over  into  Macedonia,  thence  into 
Greece,  and  finally,  after  a  short  lapse  of  time, 
even  unto  the  Imperial  City.  What  a  conquest 
was  that !  All  this  time  there  was  no  New  Tes- 
tament, but  the  life  was  operative  in  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  men ;  churches  were  multiplied 
and  converts  were  counted  by  the  thousand.  If 
this  was  not  a  divine  life,  then  there  have  been 
manifested,  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church,  human  phenomena  which  the  world  has 
never  elsewhere  seen  duplicated. 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  39 

But  we  must  consider  yet  farther,  while 
numbers  were  so  increasing,  what  wonderful 
changes  were  taking  place  in  the  character  of 
the  men  who  were  subject  to  the  influence  of 
that  potent  life.  Men  like  Peter  and  John, 
without  diploma  or  degree  from  the  schools  of 
the  Rabbis,  and  to  the  Jew  in  consequence  "  un- 
learned and  ignorant  men,"  spoke  with  so  much 
boldness  and  clear  discernment  that  their  hear- 
ers accounted  for  the  strange  eloquence  only  by 
saying  that  "they  had  been  with  Jesus."  A 
man  like  Peter,  intensely  Jewish  in  his  natural 
make-up  and  convictions,  became  sufficiently 
broad-minded  and  liberal  to  visit  Caesarea,  carry- 
ing Christian  ministrations  unto  Cornelius,  a 
previously  despised  Gentile ;  and,  though  with 
some  slight  lapses,  the  same  disciple  ever  after 
retained  an  open  heart  for  those  who  believed 
from  amongst  the  Gentiles.  That  Peter,  im- 
pulsive, almost  fickle,  who,  after  most  em- 
phatic assertion  of  loyalty  and  faithfulness, 
had  within  a  night  denied  even  more  emphat- 
ically and  with  an  oath  that  he  so  much  as 
knew  Jesus  by  sight,  became  in  process  of 
time  calm  and  steadfast,  even  to  the  endur- 
ance of  imprisonment  for  Christ's  sake,  yielding 
up  his  very  life  at  length  by  a  cruel  martyr- 
dom, yet  unswerving  in  his  allegiance  to  his 
Lord. 


40  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

Men  like  the  inhabitants  of  Corinth,  ac- 
customed to  luxury,  prone  to  sensuality  and 
sordidness,  could  become  pure  in  purpose,  gen- 
erous in  thought  and  loyal  to  Christ,  as  the 
correspondence  of  Paul  with  them  shows,  de- 
spite its  obvious  reproofs  and  corrections.  The 
Galatians,  though  fickle  and  easily  moved  from 
their  professions,  could  nevertheless  become 
stalwart  enough  to  receive  stern  rebuke  and 
strict  instruction,  under  the  apostle's  confi- 
dence of  their  profiting  thereby.  Those  Gen- 
tile converts  addressed  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians,  surrounded  and  well-nigh  charmed 
by  the  elegance  and  pomp  and  arts  of  heathen 
worship,  became,  nevertheless,  transformed  into 
worshipers  of  the  true  God,  fellow-heirs  with 
the  Father's  most  favored  children. 

Wonderful,  truly  stupendous  changes  were 
wrought  in  the  people  of  those  early  days  by 
the  effect  of  the  life,  reflected  through  the  me- 
dium of  human  lives,  —  changes  which  though 
happily  not  confined  to  that  age,  yet  enable  us 
to  see  most  clearly  the  resplendent  radiance 
of  the  life  and  its  mighty  effects  when  opera- 
tive alone.  Everywhere  it  gave  mental  and 
spiritual  enlightenment.  Once  those  humble 
Galilean  peasants  were  not  able  to  receive  the 
utterances  of  Jesus  and  he  had  been  obliged 
to  withhold  many  a  declaration  he  would  fain 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  41 

have  given ;  but  how  their  capacity  subse- 
quently increased  and  how  the  revelations  then 
came  to  them  under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit ! 
They  so  grew  and  expanded  as  at  length  to 
become,  to  all  subsequent  ages,  the  medium  of 
communication  concerning  the  Christ  who  had 
appeared  to  them  in  the  flesh  and  had  held 
discourse  and  instruction  with  them  for  three 
years.  Fishermen  became  ambassadors  and 
heralds ;  peasants  became  the  custodians  of  the 
greatest,  deepest,  broadest  philosophy  the  world 
has  ever  known  ;  unlearned  and  ignorant  men 
were  fitted  to  be  the  religious  guides  and  sacred 
historians  of  the  world,  and  coming  generations 
have  looked  back  to  their  utterances  and  exam- 
ples as  the  oracles  of  God. 

It  was  a  wonderful  life  that  could  enlighten 
men  to  such  an  extent.  Human  powers  and 
capabilities  have  not  repeated  such  marvelous 
mental  and  spiritual  changes,  as  were  wrought 
in  those  simple  Galilean  fishermen,  and  all  his- 
tory has  no  precedent  to  offer.  It  was  dis- 
tinctly, as  Jesus  himself  said,  unto  the  poor 
that  the  Gospel  had  been  preached,  and  yet 
these  very  people,  poor  and  destitute  of  human 
resources,  accomplished,  not  through  slow  lapse 
of  years  but  with  startling  celerity,  almost  im- 
mediately, wherever  they  went,  the  most  stu- 
pendous results  in  influencing  their  fellowmen 


42  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

and  in  affecting  human  institutions :  results 
which  could  never  have  been  effected  by  the 
most  perfect  system  and  organization  that 
man's  unaided  wisdom  has  ever  devised,  by  the 
influence  and  prestige  of  kings  and  rulers,  by 
the  force  of  the  largest  combinations  of  men 
the  world  has  ever  known,  or  by  the  employ- 
ment of  all  the  capital  and  wealth  the  world 
has  been  able  to  heap  together.  Yet  a  re-crea- 
tion of  individuals,  a  transformation  of  com- 
munities, and  a  remolding  of  human  thought 
and  expectation  were  accomplished  through 
the  early  Christians.  It  was  the  life  of  Christ 
which  wrought  these  mighty  effects  in  men, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  very  ordinary, 
weak  mortals.  Indeed  the  weakness  of  the 
instruments  but  the  more  clearly  displays  the 
efficiency  of  the  power. 

And  then  through  these  unpromising  chan- 
nels what  further  modifications,  after  lapse  of 
time,  were  accomplished  in  society !  The  life 
became  gradually  so  widely  disseminated  that 
the  home  felt  its  influence,  governments  be- 
came remodeled,  law  took  on  new  expressions, 
commercial  transactions  evinced  different  prin- 
ciples, and  literature  acquired  new  standards 
and  felt  the  throb  of  an  entirely  new  purpose. 
The  life  was  the  light  of  humanity,  and  so  per- 
meated humanity  as  to  give  it,  not  new  appear- 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  43 

ances  and  new  forms  only,  but  also  a  new 
character  and  a  new  nature. 

With  these  facts  in  mind  three  brief  corol- 
laries now  thrust  themselves  upon  the  atten- 
tion :  — 

(i).  Since  the  life  has  been  the  light  of  the 
world,  we  need  feel  no  anxiety  for  the  perpetu- 
ity of  the  church  of  Christ,  and  need  not  yield 
for  a  moment  to  discouragement  concerning 
her  work.  Despite  the  fact  of  Sabbath  dese- 
cration, despite  the  prevalence  of  crime  and 
lust  and  sin,  despite  forgetfulness  of  moral 
obligations  and  denials  of  God,  despite  the 
mass  of  horrid  human  actions,  which  a  sensa- 
tional press  daily  brings  beneath  our  eyes,  yet 
we  must  not  think  that  the  world  is  growing 
worse,  that  the  church  is  failing  in  her  mission, 
and  that  Christianity  is  not  gaining  ground. 
Sensational  news  is  news  simply  because  it  is 
exceptional.  Christian  virtues  have  become 
commonplace.  The  life  has  come  into  the 
world,  and  what  it  has  called  into  existence 
it  can  surely  preserve.  Were  the  church  uni- 
versal to  be  swept  away  in  a  moment,  still 
would  the  life  remain ;  that  was  operative  be- 
fore there  was  a  church  ;  it  does  not  secure 
its  strength  from  the  church,  but  rather  the 
church  has  drawn  all  her  strength  from  the 
life  ;  so   long,  therefore,  as  she  continues   to 


44  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

draw  her  sustenance  from  Christ,  her  life  and 
usefulness  are  assured. 

(2).  Emphasis  upon  the  life  gives  to  the 
Bible  its  rightful  significance.  The  life  is  first 
and  chief  ;  the  Bible  is  not  to  be  worshiped, 
nor  to  be  so  revered  as  to  become  an  end  in 
itself;  its  service  is  to  bring  man  to  the  life. 
Man,  then,  must  not  bow  down  to  the  letter ; 
he  must  reach  out  for  the  life ;  and,  if  he  finds 
the  life,  he  will  then  cease  to  fear  for  the  book  ; 
he  will  have  confidence  that  the  life  will  guard 
its  own.  Hostility  cannot  destroy  that  which 
the  life  pervades.  What  God  wills  to  stand 
must  stand.  Criticism  will  accomplish  one  of 
two  results,  —  either  it  will  completely  demon- 
strate its  own  folly,  or  it  will  cause  men  to 
better  understand  that  which  the  life,  as  the 
light  of  men,  illumines.  If,  then,  we  at  all  dis- 
cern the  power  of  the  life,  we  may  have  confi- 
dence in  that  which  manifests  the  life. 

(3).  In  preaching  and  exhortation  unto  others 
and  unto  ourselves  we  ought  to  lay  greater 
stress  upon  the  life,  and  the  necessity  of  seek- 
ing that  alone.  We  need  not  aim  primarily 
at  an  understanding  of  the  Bible,  or  at  the 
acquirement  of  a  perfect  system  of  theology. 
The  Christ  will  explain  the  Bible  quite  as  much 
as  the  Bible  will  explain  the  Christ ;  and  the 
light   of  life   is   a  better  revelation  of  sound 


THE  RADIANCE  OF  HIS  PERSON.  45 

doctrine  than  is  sound  doctrine  of  the  life. 
Creeds  are  not  so  essential  as  the  life  ;  one  can 
be  saved  without  a  creed,  but  one  cannot  be 
saved  without  a  Saviour.  The  life  coming  unto 
a  human  heart  may  propound  a  hundred  ques- 
tions and  arouse  a  thousand  misgivings,  leading 
to  multitudinous  doubts  and  mysteries,  but  the 
questions  and  misgivings  and  mysteries  do  not 
concern  the  soul  that  truly  finds  Christ.  As 
Christ  enters  into  that  soul  the  shadows  must 
flee  away.  As  Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world, 
so  is  he  the  light  of  the  single  soul.  The  con- 
fidence springing  from  his  presence  gives  peace. 
His  radiance  quickens,  refreshes,  revives  the 
best  in  the  human  heart,  and  banishes  evil. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   ABOUNDING   LIFE. 

Life  and  the  products  of  life  are  exceedingly 
abundant  about  us,  far  more  abundant  than  is 
usually  realized. 

The  life  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  enters  into 
our  edifices  in  every  beam,  board,  and  shingle ; 
is  in  our  clothing  and  furnishings  of  cotton, 
linen,  and  lace ;  in  pulp,  it  becomes  paper  and 
books,  boxes  and  dishes,  pails  and  chairs,  floors 
and  walls,  and  even  the  car-wheels  on  the  rail- 
road. It  furnishes  at  least  eight-tenths  of  our 
food.  The  animal  kingdom  is  scarcely  less  in- 
dispensable to  man  ;  it  is  not  only  a  main  source 
of  food  supply,  but  also  gives  to  our  floors  car- 
pets, to  our  plastering  hair,  to  the  jointures  of 
our  furniture  glue,  to  us  and  to  all  things  for 
covering  it  gives  furs,  skin,  wool,  and  leather ; 
it  furnishes  bone  and  horn ;  it  makes  contribu- 
tions to  our  instruments  of  music,  whether  of 
wind  or  string. 

Animalculae  swarm  in  the  tiniest  drop  of 
water,  fatten  in  the  microscopic  dust,  and  jostle 
46 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  47 

each  other  in  every  breath  we  breathe ;  they 
penetrate  the  tissues  of  our  bodies,  hold  assem- 
blage under  our  finger-nails,  and  high  carnival 
on  our  teeth.  An  American  dentist  in  Germany 
has  made  himself  world-famous  amongst  den- 
tists by  a  learned  work  upon  the  bacteria  of  the 
teeth.  Indeed  bacteriology  contributes  more  to 
nosology  and  therapeutics  now  than  any  other 
branch  of  science.  A  bacillus  has  been  found 
for  almost  every  disease.  In  the  filtering  es- 
tablishment of  the  Berlin  water-works  one  may 
see  drops  of  water  kept  under  favorable  condi- 
tions for  the  cultivation  of  microbes  in  order  to 
discover  in  larger  size  both  their  number  and 
their  kind,  that  the  relative  purity  of  the  water 
supply  may  be  determined  daily  and  the  health 
of  the  people  be  guarded.  Every  laboratory 
for  the  scientific  study  of  sanitation,  disinfec- 
tion, and  other  subjects  allied  with  the  public 
health,  is  equipped  now  with  appliances  for  the 
investigation  of  microscopic  life.  Life,  indeed, 
in  some  form  is  so  abundant  that  the  scientist 
can  scarcely  find  a  place  or  a  condition  where 
it  is  not,  when  wishing  to  conduct  experiments 
without  its  insistent  presence  and  perplexing 
complications.  Darwin  and  Wallace,  separately, 
spent  months  of  experimenting  to  obtain  a  sin- 
gle cubic  inch  of  atmosphere  totally  germless, 
that  they  might  know,  and  might  tell  the  world, 


48  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

whether  there  could  be  by  any  possibility  a 
spontaneous  generation,  or  whether  all  life 
came  solely  from  antecedent  life.  Successful 
at  length  in  eliminating  life,  they  found  that 
life  in  any  form  could  come  only  from  life,  and 
that  the  abundance  everywhere  and  in  every- 
thing was  not  due  to  spontaneity  of  generation, 
but  to  parental  or  antecedent  reproduction  and 
propagation. 

The  prevailing  characteristics  of  all  these 
forms  of  life  are  two  :  self-preservation  and 
self-propagation.  The  former  means  prolonged 
existence  for  the  individual ;  the  latter  means 
prolonged  existence  of  the  species ;  or,  in  other 
words,  that,  when  the  individual  can  no  longer 
survive,  then  his  offspring  shall  preserve  his 
kind.  The  one  involves  self-protection,  an  in- 
stinct in  the  lower  orders,  causing  a  ceaseless 
conflict  and  ruthless  destruction  of  others  that 
self  may  live ;  the  other,  the  perpetuation  of 
the  species,  causing  death  also,  resulting  usually 
from  the  process  of  reproducing  life.  Many 
plants  die  when  they  have  brought  seed  to  per- 
fection ;  in  many  forms  of  animal  life,  likewise, 
the  individual  perishes  on  reproducing  itself  in 
its  young.  Procreation  severely  taxes  the  vital- 
ity of  all  forms,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 

These  are  the  laws  of  natural  life,  and  upon 
these  laws  Herbert  Spencer  has   founded  his 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  49 

system  of  ethics.  Holding  that  man,  like  all 
other  orders  of  life,  exists  for  the  twofold  ob- 
ject of  preserving  his  individual  existence  and 
of  propagating  his  kind,  Spencer  declares  that 
the  essence  of  right  and  wrong  lies  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  abundance  of  life  by  these 
two  ways,  —  the  preservation  of  oneself  and 
the  propagation  of  one's  kind  ;  that  the  true 
ethical  standard  is  to  be  found  in  answer  to  the 
questions  :  What  perpetuates  life  ?  What  favors 
begetting  and  rearing  offspring  ?  This  founda- 
tion of  ethics  is  set  forth,  applied,  and  illus- 
trated in  Spencer's  Data  of  Ethics.  One  school 
of  nineteenth  century  philosophy,  therefore, 
holds  up  as  the  highest  ideal  revealed  to  man, 
to  have  life  and  to  have  it  abundantly.  Strangely 
enough,  this  is  also  the  language  of  Christ  in 
expressing  at  one  time  his  mission  among  men, 
"  I  came  that  they  may  have  life,  and  may 
have  it  abundantly." 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  Spencerian 
ethics  and  Christian  ethics,  that  agnosticism 
and  faith,  that  Herbert  Spencer  and  Jesus 
Christ  can  employ  the  same  language  and 
preach  from  the  same  text.  But  here,  as  in 
all  else,  mere  externals  are  not  a  safe  criterion 
of  inward  contents ;  phrases  may  sound  alike 
yet  be  indeed  the  vehicles  of  entirely  differ- 
ent thought ;  identity  in  language  is  no  proof 


50  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

of  identity  or  even  of  similarity  in  thought 
and  intention.  Motive  is  more  than  deeds  and 
meaning  more  than  words. 

Spencer  thinks  of  this  life.  His  glance  is 
backward.  He  reads  the  record  of  anatomy, 
morphology,  and  physiology ;  he  sees  the  past 
which  this  life  has  had,  but  he  sees  for  it  no 
future.  "  To  have  life  "  is  to  have  it  here,  and 
to  have  it  in  three  modes,  —  physical,  mental, 
and  social.  "  To  have  life  more  abundantly  "  is 
to  increase  it  in  the  following  directions :  to 
make  the  health  better  and  the  body  more  ro- 
bust ;  to  augment  intellectual  vigor  and  attain- 
ments ;  to  allow  others  in  seeking  to  increase 
their  own  life  to  its  fullness  free  opportunity  so 
to  do;  and  to  beget  offspring  who  shall  con- 
tinue this  same  vital  round.  These  are  the 
Spencerian  directions  of  ethical  possibility  and 
obligation. 

But  the  abounding  life  of  Jesus  is  more 
abundant  than  Spencer  means.  It  includes  all 
forms  of  the  material  life  of  men  and  extends 
much  farther.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
religion  does  not  array  itself  against  science 
and  philosophy ;  it  is  only  a  certain  kind  of 
religionists  who  set  up  a  conflict.  The  domains 
of  Christianity  are  so  vast  that  all  true  science 
and  all  true  philosophy  have  a  home  within  her 
jurisdiction.     There  may  be  a  conflict  between 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  51 

religion  and  so-called  science ;  there  may  be  a 
conflict  between  science  and  so-called  religion ; 
but  Christianity  never  conflicts  with  truth. 
Where  man  knows  truth,  his  knowledge  har- 
monizes with  all  other  truth.  Much  that 
Spencer  avers  is  undoubtedly  true ;  it  has  the 
accord  of  other  truth.  Science,  if  true,  is  as 
true  as  religion,  and  religion,  if  true,  can  be 
no  truer.  God  is  one ;  truth  is  his  nature.  If 
Spencer  has  a  part  of  truth,  he  has  so  much 
knowledge  of  the  being  and  will  of  God. 

Wherein  truth  is  spoken,  Spencer's  words 
accord  with  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  Jesus  Christ 
means  that  we  shall  have  physical  life  and  that 
it  shall  abound. 

Amongst  the  Jews  sound  health  is,  and  ever 
has  been,  notorious.  Modern  science  has  re- 
cently discovered  that  those  animals  forbidden 
by  the  Mosaic  law,  as  food,  are  among  the  ani- 
mals most  liable  to  parasitic  forms  of  life, 
engendering  such  diseases  as  rabies  and  trichi- 
nosis. The  Jewish  methods  of  slaughtering 
animals,  which  carefully  eliminate  the  blood 
from  the  flesh,  remove  one  prolific  breeding- 
place  of  bacilli.  Even  circumcision  has  hygienic 
claims.  And  so  the  preparation  for  Christianity 
was  one  that  touched  the  physical  life. 

But  Christ  and  Christian  principles  even 
more  clearly  and  completely  advocate  and  pro- 


52  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

mote  sound  health.  The  sins  of  the  flesh  are 
all  condemned  by  Christ ;  they  all  produce  dis- 
ease and  unsoundness.  Temperance,  quietness, 
peace,  joy,  hope,  faith,  — fruits  of  the  spirit, — 
are  as  beneficial  to  the  body  as  to  the  soul.  He 
who  forbade  useless  worry  and  anxiety  for  the 
morrow  gave  a  prescription  for  health  and  hap- 
piness for  both  to-day  and  to-morrow.  He  who 
healed  bodies  nineteen  centuries  ago  in  Pales- 
tine, heals  them  no  less  truly  in  America  to- 
day. It  is  not,  however,  a  healing  accompanied 
by  unction,  gush,  excitement ;  nor  by  oil,  the 
imposition  of  hands,  and  the  utterance  of  peti- 
tions which  in  their  insistent,  exorbitant,  and 
selfish  demands  often  travesty  prayer;  but  a 
healing  unattended  by  commotion,  unheralded 
by  spectacular  demonstration,  frequently,  in- 
deed, unknown  and  unrecognized  by  the  patient, 
and  yet  no  less  truly  Christ's  mighty  work ;  it 
is  the  healing  derived  from  trust,  from  obedi- 
ence and  from  Christian  living,  the  result  of 
following  the  Great  Physician's  directions,  not 
for  a  moment  to  tide  over  a  crisis,  but  for  a 
lifetime,  as  regulative  of  all  acts  and  thoughts 
and  states. 

Were  there  not  just  laws  of  retribution  oper- 
ative constantly,  these  gracious  physical  advan- 
tages to  the  Christian  would  be  more  frequen/ly 
apparent ;   but  oftentimes   penalties   must   be 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  53 

borne  in  the  flesh  for  sins  or  errors  in  the  indi- 
vidual himself  or  in  a  long  line  of  ancestry,  for 
which  no  repentance  and  no  atonement  can 
provide  a  remedy.  The  laws  of  God  are  not  at 
variance.  Each  has  its  domain.  But  the  laws 
of  Christ,  heartily  and  consistently  obeyed, 
mean  for  men  most  certainly  an  increased 
soundness  of  body.  We  are  temples  for  the 
indwelling  of  the  divine ;  and  when  the  divine 
has  control  of  his  own  habitation,  we  may  well 
believe  that  he  will  make  that  habitation  whole- 
some and  sound. 

It  has  often  been  supposed  that  Jesus  Christ 
himself  was  not  a  good  example  of  physical 
health.  Medieval  art  may  be  responsible  for 
the  opinion,  for  it  has  delineated  him  as  wan, 
pale,  sickly,  emaciated,  and  haggard.  But  that, 
doubtless,  is  a  caricature,  false  though  pious. 
He  was  no  gaunt,  religious  enthusiast.  There 
is  not  a  note  of  unreality,  unwholesomeness,  or 
unsoundness  in  all  his  teaching.  His  words 
have  the  ring  of  vigor,  robustness,  and  strength. 
Was  he  weak  and  puny  —  he,  born  of  a  woman 
chosen  out  of  all  Israel,  his  father  divine  ? 
Surely  hereditary  influences  from  such  sources 
were  good.  Was  he  frail  and  feeble,  he,  who, 
in  open  air,  a  carpenter  by  trade  till  thirty, 
walked  from  Galilee  to  Judea,  and  from  Judea 
to   Galilee,   repeating  the  journey   again   and 


54  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

again  ?  he,  who  pushed  on  to  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
and  also  out  beyond  Jordan  ?  Did  he  lack 
strength,  he,  who  could  endure  forty  days  of 
fasting,  and  then  the  mental  and  spiritual  rack 
of  that  satanic  temptation  ?  Were  those  nerves 
unstrung,  and  that  physique  shattered,  that 
could  survive  the  heart-breaking  agony  of  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  then  permit  their 
possessor  to  remain  patient  and  forgiving  under 
the  taunts  and  tortures  of  his  accusers  and 
crucifiers  ? 

That  he  was  weary  by  Jacob's  Well  in  Sama- 
ria, that  he  slept  in  the  storm-tossed  boat  on 
Lake  Gennesaret,  that  he  was  hungry  after  his 
resurrection,  and  ate  food,  but  prove  the  real- 
ity of  his  human  body,  not  its  frailty.  Isaiah's 
language,  "  He  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness  ; 
and  when  we  shall  see  him,  there  is  no  beauty 
that  we  should  desire  him,"  has  been  thought 
to  apply  to  the  physical  appearance  of  Jesus ; 
but  Isaiah  was  writing  of  the  servant  of  Jeho- 
vah, the  faithful  remnant  of  Israel,  and  not  of 
the  coming  Messiah. 

He  who  could  at  sight  draw  young  children 
to  him,  who  was  attractive  also  to  men  as  well 
as  to  women,  won  not  only  by  his  eyes  and 
smile,  but  must  have  had  charm  also  in  manly 
bearing  and  physique.  There  is  no  reason, 
therefore,  why  we   should   not   conclude  with 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  55 

confidence  that  by  example  and  by  teaching 
Jesus  meant  to  promote  an  abounding  life  in 
the  physical  man. 

That  he  meant  a  mental  life,  likewise,  and  its 
increase  is  evident  from  the  method  of  instruc- 
tion which  he  employed,  and  the  effects  of  his 
person  upon  men  of  all  time.  The  parables  in 
which  he  spoke  are  not  a  crutch  to  thought,  as 
some  people  suppose;  they  are  not  easy,  but 
hard  to  understand.  The  disciples  begged  him 
to  explain  the  parables  to  them,  and  he  com- 
plied. Parables  are  incentives  and  stimulants 
to  thought ;  they  require  mental  activity.  By 
them  attention  is  secured,  comparisons  must  be 
instituted,  and  inductions  drawn.  To  hear  his 
parables  is  to  take  a  lesson  in  logic.  Unless 
men  opened  their  minds,  and  stirred  their  souls, 
they  could  receive  nothing  from  him.  He  re- 
quired attention  and  thoughtfulness  first  of  all. 

Jesus  widened  the  mental  horizon  of  his 
hearers.  He  made  them  observe  ordinary 
things,  seen,  but  unobserved  before;  he  told 
them  of  relations  always  existing,  but  hitherto 
ignored ;  caused  them  to  think  as  a  neighbor 
thought ;  reminded  them  of  past  history,  taught 
them  present  truth,  and  pointed  them  to  a  dis- 
tant and  resplendent  future.  His  teaching  in- 
volved the  principles  and  not  the  rules  of 
religion.     His  was  not  a  code  to  read  or  memo- 


56  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

rize;  no  casuist  he.  Every  disciple  must  be- 
lieve, think,  assimilate,  and,  assimilating,  shape 
his  course  by  mental  and  spiritual  appreciation 
of  the  truth. 

The  palpable  effects  of  Christ's  life  upon  his 
followers  is  evidence  of  what  he  means  to  be 
normal  among  his  disciples  of  all  time.  It  has 
caused  wonderment  that  humble  fishermen  be- 
came seers  and  prophets,  that  a  tax-gatherer 
should  become  a  world-famous  historian.  But 
it  is  not  so  strange  after  all.  The  apostles 
were  mentally  awakened,  and  spiritually  aroused 
to  their  full  capacity.  The  possibilities  are 
stupendous  when  a  man's  full  intellectual  and 
spiritual  powers  are  called  into  exercise. 

The  testimony  of  subsequent  history,  also, 
shows  the  expansive  power  of  Christianity  on 
the  mind.  The  nations  most  Christ-like  have 
become  the  most  intellectual.  The  people  tak- 
ing in  the  most  of  Christian  principle  and 
motive  imbibe  the  most  of  civilization  and  cul- 
ture. Where  the  record  of  the  life  has  gone, 
there  the  printing  press  and  school  have  fol- 
lowed. Where  the  church  has  been  planted, 
there  the  academy  and  the  college  have  sprung 
up. 

Jesus  plainly  intended  that  the  mind  should 
develop.  He  went  away  saying,  "  I  have  many 
things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  57 

now,"  and  he  promised  that  the  Spirit  should 
guide  them  into  all  truth,  calling  to  remem- 
brance all  things  that  he  had  said  unto  them. 
Expansion  by  enlargement,  and  fuller  posses- 
sion by  attainment,  he  manifestly  intended  for 
his  followers.  Although  men  still  subscribe 
to  statements  which  their  ecclesiastical  grand- 
fathers wrote,  assenting  to  views  the  validity  of 
which  they  have  not  once  probed  for  them- 
selves, and  accept  far-reaching  doctrines  and 
skillfully  fashioned  creeds  without  prying  into, 
digging  out,  and  opening  up  truth  for  their  own 
minds ;  yet  this  is  not  the  intention  of  Jesus. 
He  meant  for  the  human  mind  enlargement  in 
the  appreciation  and  assimilation  of  truth.  The 
grace  and  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  in  which  the  Apostle  Peter  ex- 
horted his  hearers  to  grow,  has  been  as  yet  by 
no  means  exhausted. 

But  Jesus  Christ  enlarges  also  the  social  life. 
"Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  is  no  less  a 
pre-Christian  than  a  pre-Mosaic  question,  un- 
derlying both  the  law  and  the  Gospel.  Chris- 
tianity is  distinctly  a  religion  of  fraternal 
obligation  and  social  contact.  "Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself  "  was  the  second 
of  the  Lord's  two  great  commandments.  We 
discover  but  half  of  Christianity  when  we  see 
only  our  relation  to  God  through  Christ ;  but 


58  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

the  other  half  is  as  plainly  declared,  our  relation 
to  humanity  through  Christ ;  he  spoke  of  both 
and  taught  both.  Giving  a  cup  of  cold  water, 
feeding  the  hungry,  visiting  the  sick  and  pris- 
oners are  services  done  unto  him.  Such  con- 
duct, if  performed  in  his  name,  constitutes  a  part 
of  Christianity. 

The  Jew  has  always  honored  the  family.  His 
Bible,  and  ours,  declares  at  the  outset  its  insti- 
tution as  divinely  designed  ;  the  Jew's  inspired 
singer,  and  ours,  has  said  that  "children  are  an 
heritage  of  the  Lord  and  blessed  is  the  man 
whose  quiver  is  full  of  them."  Jesus  himself 
has  sanctioned  and  hallowed  the  family  as  a 
social  center.  He  himself  entered  a  family 
and  spent  ten-elevenths  of  his  earthly  years 
within  a  home.  He  sanctioned  marriage  and 
made  its  obligations  more  binding  than  even 
the  Mosaic  code  had  done.  He  found  solace 
and  shelter  in  the  home  of  Martha  and  Mary ; 
he  attended  the  wedding  feast  at  Cana ;  he  re- 
stored the  dead  to  parents  and  sisters. 

Jesus  did  not  live  apart  from  men,  but 
amongst  them,  in  the  cities  even,  where  the 
multitudes  were.  He  was  no  recluse  and  no 
ascetic.  Hermits  and  monks  and  celibate 
priests  are  burlesques,  rather  than  patterns,  of 
Christianity.  He  sanctioned  social  life,  life 
amongst  men  ;  he  taught  its  improvement  and 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  59 

gave  principles  which  modern  minds  and  hearts 
are  but  just  beginning  to  comprehend  and 
apply. 

"  And  who  is  my  neighbor  ? "  asked  the  law- 
yer. By  parable  and  teaching,  Jesus  replied, 
"  Every  one  who  is  in  need,  whom  you  can  help, 
whether  you  like  or  dislike  the  man,  whether 
he  esteems  or  despises  you  ;  his  need  and  your 
ability  to  help  constitute  the  social  bonds  be- 
tween you.  Go  thou  and  do  likewise."  This 
is  his  social  standard  ;  this  is  one  commandment 
of  Christ  for  social  life.  In  some  places  the 
church  is  but  just  now  dreamily  opening  her 
eyes  to  this  direction  of  her  mission,  but  it  is 
not  new  in  the  words  and  the  works  of  Jesus. 

Thus  far  the  teachings  of  Herbert  Spencer 
and  Jesus  Christ  are  in  agreement.  Rest,  rec- 
reation, athletics,  and  physical  culture  are  Chris- 
tian as  well  as  scientific.  Reading  and  study, 
thought  and  philosophy,  school,  college  and 
university,  science  and  learning  are  sanctioned 
by  Jesus  Christ,  no  less  definitely  than  by  the 
highest  exponents  of  this  world's  wisdom. 
Charity,  benevolence,  philanthropy,  a  recogni- 
tion of  social  sorrows  and  social  joys,  and  par- 
ticipation in  the  affairs  of  government  and 
politics  are  for  the  Christian  even  more  than 
for  the  agnostic,  because  the  Christian,  fired 
with  the  enthusiasm  for  humanity  which  springs 


60  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

from  a  sense  of  duty  as  well  as  of  love  for  man, 
can  best  affiliate  with  all  social  conditions. 

The  ethics  of  Christ  are  seen,  therefore,  to 
overlay  the  ethics  of  Spencer.  All  that  Spen- 
cer means  Christ  means,  and  more.  Spencer 
has  no  place  for  the  great  dynamic,  the  personal 
pronoun.  The  omission  is  characteristic  of 
such  ethics  and  philosophy ;  they  leave  deity 
out  of  their  reckoning.  Agnosticism  makes 
a  place  for  God  but  puts  no  God  in  the  place 
prepared. 

The  worldly  philosophy  exhorts,  have  physi- 
cal life  and  have  it  abundantly.  Jesus  Christ 
says,  have  life  and  have  it  abundantly,  not 
merely  because  it  is  the  law  of  nature,  of  which 
protoplasm  and  polyp  partake,  but  because 
I,  your  example  and  inspiration,  wish  you  to 
have  generous  physical  resources  for  your  own 
better  satisfaction,  for  greater  usefulness  unto 
others,  and  for  the  highest  glory  of  God ;  be  a 
type  in  brawn  and  muscle  of  the  best  that  God 
has  made,  and  employ  this  brawn  and  muscle  in 
manner  pleasing  to  him. 

The  worldly  philosophy  says,  have  mental 
life  and  have  it  abundantly.  Jesus  Christ  re- 
sponds, have  mental  life  and  have  it  abun- 
dantly, not  to  quibble,  to  disparage  and  to 
doubt  concerning  the  great  mysteries  of  the 
ages,  but  to  investigate,  discover,  apprehend, 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  61 

and  apply  truth  to  self,  to  man,  and  to  God ; 
from  the  present  and  from  the  past,  for  the 
present  and  for  the  future,  enlarge  the  mental 
and  spiritual  outlook,  magnify  that  spiritual 
nature,  God-designed,  God-made,  and  enter  into 
fellowship  with  me,  the  revelation  of  God, 
thereby  to  behold  with  me  the  eternal  truths  of 
righteousness  and  grace. 

Worldly  philosophy  pronounces  for  social  life 
and  its  abundance.  Jesus  Christ  approves  and 
adds,  have  social  life,  have  it  abundantly,  but 
not  merely  that  you  yourself  may  live  and  your 
offspring  may  survive  you ;  and,  as  a  necessary 
condition  to  your  own  and  your  offspring's  un- 
disturbed and  peaceful  existence,  that  others  of 
the  race  may  have  the  same  privileges  of  pre- 
serving self  and  protecting  their  young;  but 
live  for  others,  be  willing  to  die  for  others  —  "  he 
that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  save  it "  — 
save  by  spending,  increase  by  giving,  gain  by 
sacrificing,  save  and  serve  others ;  follow  my 
example ;  so  shall  you  truly  live. 

The  warmth  of  Christ's  appeal,  the  glow  of 
his  call  issue  from  his  person.  Live,  live,  he 
cries ;  to  the  utmost  enlarge  thyself,  to  the 
utmost  use  thyself,  to  the  utmost  give  thyself. 
What  magnetism  in  his  person !  "lam  come, 
that  ye  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  abun- 
dantly."    This  is  the  deepest  secret  of  his  mes- 


62  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

sage,  "I  am  come."  Here  I  am,  the  way,  the 
truth  and  the  life ;  partake  of  me.  He  who 
believes  in  me  as  the  Son  of  God  and  Saviour 
of  men,  he  who  patterns  after  me  as  the  perfect 
plan  God  designed  for  human  lives,  he  who 
accepts  from  me  all  that  I  by  my  sacrifice  of 
love,  as  man  and  God,  have  achieved  between 
man  and  God,  he  shall  live,  live  not  merely  in 
body,  not  merely  in  mind,  not  merely  among 
men,  but  a  life  of  communion  with  God,  both 
here  and  hereafter,  constantly  becoming  trans- 
formed into  the  diviner  likeness.  Without  me 
no  such  life  is  possible.  Without  me  men  have 
sought  to  live  and  have  perished ;  all  religions 
without  me  fail,  both  for  this  life  and  in  the 
promise  of  a  future  life  ;  all  philosophies  with- 
out me  grovel  amid  the  weaknesses,  the  sins, 
and  the  doubts  of  men ;  all  systems  without  me 
raise  questions  unanswerable,  cause  longings 
unappeased,  leave  fears  irremediable. 

Christianity  is  more  than  dogma.  Jesus  does 
not  give  us  opinions,  but  life.  No  man  need 
believe  a  statement,  or  feel  required  to  do  this 
or  that  deed,  or  be  of  one  or  another  disposition, 
simply  because  a  man,  be  he  priest  or  prophet, 
or  a  body  of  men,  whether  church,  council,  or 
synod,  make  this  or  that  declaration ;  but  only 
because  his  mind  and  conscience,  grasping  the 
ideal,  bid  him  believe,  do,  and  be.     All  that  con- 


THE  ABOUNDING  LIFE.  63 

cerns  a  man,  to  be  a  part  of  him,  must  spring 
from  within  him ;  it  becomes  then  his  life. 
Those  are  thieves  and  robbers  who  dogmatize 
and  take  away  the  moral  and  spiritual  activity 
of  our  own  free  choice  and  independent  appre- 
ciation and  assimilation. 

Belief  in  Christ  brings  Christ  into  the  soul ; 
like  a  new  scion  set  in  an  old  tree,  belief  in 
Christ  takes  of  the  old  life,  draws  it  up  into 
the  new,  and  little  by  little,  utilizing  the  natural 
forces  and  activities  of  the  natural  man,  trans- 
forms them  and  him  from  one  life  into  another, 
from  the  production  of  mere  natural  excellences 
and  virtues  into  bearing  the  new,  the  better, 
the  Christian  fruit.  Belief  then  performs  its 
high  and  noble  function,  becomes  vital  in  man, 
lives  within  him,  and  makes  him  by  transforma- 
tion live  within  it  and  thus  unto  Christ. 

This  new,  this  higher  life,  like  all  life,  can 
come  only  from  antecedent  life  ;  there  can  be 
no  spontaneous  generation ;  it  is  from  Christ. 
It  is  his  purpose,  his  mission,  his  very  life  to 
give  life. 

In  the  animal  kingdom  self-preservation  in- 
volves usually  the  death  of  others.  In  the  spir- 
itual kingdom  the  preservation  of  life  in  one 
brings  an  increase  of  life  to  all ;  there  is  no 
destruction  of  others  for  the  sake  of  self,  there 
is  no  irrepressible  conflict,  no  survival  of  the 


64  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

fittest ;  all  who  have  the  life  in  any  measure 
are  fit,  and  all  survive,  each  helping  the  others. 
In  the  animal  kingdom  procreation  involves 
often  death,  always  suffering  and  loss  of  vital- 
ity; in  the  spiritual  kingdom  to  transmit  life, 
to  live  in  others  by  influence,  by  personal  ex- 
ample, by  precept,  by  power,  by  inspiration,  and 
by  service  is  but  to  live  the  more,  to  lose  noth- 
ing, but  rather  to  enlarge  one's  own  spiritual 
vitality.  By  the  life  which  Christ  gives,  we 
live  with  satisfaction  to  ourselves  and  useful- 
ness to  others  in  this  life,  and  thence  live  on 
with  fullness  of  life  hereafter.  But  all  this 
life  is  in  progressive  forms,  unfolding  a  higher 
always  from  a  lower  as  the  plan  of  the  Master's 
operation  shows. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   PLAN    OF   OPERATION. 

Consecutiveness,  the  significance  of  which 
has  been  taught  us  by  the  scientist,  is  a  word 
which  we  are  finding  to-day  may  be  appropri- 
ately applied  to  most,  if  not  all,  processes  and 
changes.  The  keen  observer  discovers  few  real 
beginnings,  and  the  number  constantly  de- 
creases. He  finds,  instead,  continuance  of  what 
long  since  came  forth  from  an  antecedent. 
What  he  once  termed  a  beginning  is  in  many 
instances  now  understood  as  a  mere  modifica- 
tion of  what  previously  existed. 

In  the  study  of  history,  events  are  no  longer 
regarded  as  isolated  occurrences;  and  history 
is  no  longer  written  as  beads  are  strung  upon  a 
ribbon  ;  but  in  the  study  of  the  past  there  has 
come  to  be  recognized  a  well-defined  philosophy 
of  history,  which  discerns  in  all  the  record  of  the 
human  race,  streams  of  progress,  development 
of  tendencies  and  modification  of  characteristics. 

Our  modern  pedagogy  enunciates  with  ever 
increasing  clearness,  Aristotle's  declaration  that 

65 


66  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

"  all  intellectual  teaching  is  based  upon  what  is 
previously  known  to  the  person  taught,"  the 
truth  of  which  all  who  have  taught  know  full 
well. 

The  last-born  science,  sociology,  intent  upon 
knowing  society's  conditions,  in  tabulating  mo- 
tives, forces,  and  facts,  is  a  science  solely  as  it 
appreciates  the  inevitable  consecutiveness  of  all 
of  society's  changes,  the  concatenation  of  social 
cause  and  effect.  The  recognition  of  an  order 
of  development  in  modern  society  is  fast  trans- 
forming generous,  impulsive,  unthinking  charity 
into  a  calmer,  truer,  more  Christian  philan- 
thropy, and  is  making  Christ-like  scientists  of 
us  all. 

Christ-like  scientists,  I  say,  for  the  Master 
long  since  enunciated  the  principle  which  the 
scientist,  historian,  teacher,  and  reformer,  chiefly 
from  scientific  sources,  are  at  length  learning. 
Christianity  in  relation  to  its  past,  in  relation 
to  the  race,  to  nations  and  to  individuals,  en- 
ters as  a  coordinating,  connected  and  consec- 
utive factor.  Preserving  the  good  of  the  past, 
it  enlarges,  modifies,  purifies,  transforms  the 
present,  and  thus  produces  a  new  creature  for 
the  future.     It  does  not  destroy,  it  fulfills. 

Our  Lord  revealed  on  earth  heaven's  plan  of 
operation.  He  came  not  to  destroy  the  stand- 
ards,   precepts,    and    commandments    already 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  67 

sacred  to  the  people,  not  even  to  disparage 
them,  still  less  to  ignore  them,  but  to  restore 
their  meaning  to  the  original  divine  dimensions, 
to  enlarge  their  applications  as  they  worthily- 
required,  and  to  extend  them  into  the  depths 
and  heights  that  evince  their  accord  with  the 
perpetual  and  universal  truth  of  God. 

The  Jew  believed  in  one  God.  Jesus  reiter- 
ated and  reaffirmed  the  unity  of  God,  yet  gave 
the  world  the  data  of  the  Trinity. 

The  Jew  believed  in  Jehovah  as  propitious 
only  to  the  Jew.  While  acquiescing  in  this  be- 
lief by  affirming  that  "  salvation  is  of  the  Jews  " 
and  that  his  mission  was  primarily  to  "  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,"  yet  Jesus  declared 
the  fatherhood  of  God  wide  enough  to  embrace 
all  who  receive  the  spiritual  sonship  proffered, 
of  whatever  race  or  tongue,  and  indeed  compre- 
hensive enough  to  include,  through  God's  mercy 
and  love  shown  in  creation  and  the  offer  of  re- 
demption, all  mankind.  The  Jew  dared  scarcely 
utter  "  Father,"  though  at  times  vaguely  enter- 
taining the  thought  of  Jehovah's  fatherhood. 
It  was  Jesus  who  taught  his  disciples  always  to 
say  "  Our  Father/'  when  they  prayed. 

Jesus  preserved  the  election  typical  of 
Judaism,  yet  so  enlarged  its  conditions  as  es- 
sentially to  change  its  character.  The  old  dis- 
pensation might  be  called  Calvinistic,  while  the 


68  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

new  was  Calvinio-Arminian.  Under  the  old, 
divine  favors  were  bestowed,  it  was  at  first  be- 
lieved, upon  one  single  condition,  namely  He- 
brew descent ;  in  order  to  inherit  the  promises, 
a  man  must  be  a  child  of  Abraham.  This  was 
the  election  of  a  race.  But  a  new  condition  at 
length  was  recognized :  even  a  Jew  might  fail 
of  divine  favor,  if  he  ceased  to  obey  and  worship 
God.  The  later  prophets  made  it  plain  that 
Jehovah  required  more  than  mere  Abraham ic 
descent,  more  even  than  mere  sacrifice  and  an 
outward  compliance  with  the  law,  —  an  inward 
act,  to  love  mercy  and  to  walk  humbly  with 
God.  The  emphasis  was  in  process  of  shifting 
for  centuries.  Jesus  continued  and  accelerated 
this  change  of  emphasis,  his  chief  requirements 
being  belief,  love,  obedience,  full  allegiance  of 
the  heart  with  its  attendant  service. 

In  olden  days  set  forms,  ceremonies,  sacri- 
fices, and  the  externals  of  religious  observances 
were  too  often  deemed  sufficient  for  pleasing 
God.  Jesus  did  not  abrogate  form,  ceremony, 
and  sacrifice.  He  performed  and  rendered 
them  all  in  a  fuller,  deeper  sense,  as  for  sacri- 
fice, becoming  himself  the  efficient  offering  for 
all  time  and  for  all  men.  He  laid  stress  upon 
that  which  externals  signified.  With  works  he 
demanded  also  the  inward  operations  of  faith 
and  love.     The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  shows 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  69 

how,  while  still  preserving  the  requirements  of 
the  law,  Jesus  added  to  them  and  fulfilled  them. 
Jesus  Christ  himself,  therefore,  entered  into  the 
stream  of  progress  ;  he  himself  exemplified  the 
principle  of  consecutiveness ;  he  became  an  ex- 
ponent of  the  method  of  evolution. 

It  would  not  be  a  difficult  task  to  show  how, 
since  the  days  of  Christ,  Christianity  has  always 
developed  according  to  the  same  principle.  No 
age,  no  century,  no  religious  upheaval,  no  com- 
motion has  been  isolated  and  detached.  Each 
change  has  had  its  cause,  in  part  at  least,  not 
far  before  it,  in  its  natural  antecedents.  Men 
have  discovered  that  truth  is  not  fragmentary, 
but  continuous ;  the  revelation  of  truth  is  not 
spasmodic,  but  progressive ;  and  the  apprecia- 
tion of  truth  is  not  often  an  ecstasy,  but  more 
frequently  a  growth. 

One  means  of  discerning  how  faithfully  the 
principle  of  consecutiveness  was  carried  out  by 
Jesus  will  be  found  in  observing  how  tolerant 
he  was  of  abuses  which  at  the  same  time  he 
came  to  reform.  He  was  a  king,  establishing  a 
kingdom,  potent  enough  to  dictate  to  all  the 
powers  of  the  earth  and  even  marshall  by  his 
side  the  legions  of  heaven ;  yet  he  assumed 
control  of  no  government,  himself  yielded  ac- 
quiescence to  the  decrees  of  the  rulers,  teaching 
his  followers,  also,  to  render  unto  Caesar  the 


70  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

things  that  pertained  to  Caesar:  he  repudiated 
for  himself  the  title  and  the  crown  of  a  king. 
He  allowed  evils  in  government  to  continue, 
and  yet  he  introduced  the  principles  which 
gradually,  yet  surely,  by  growth  and  consec- 
utive development,  should  remedy  evils,  cor- 
rect abuses,  and  rectify  mismanagement. 

He  came  to  manumit  the  slave  ;  and  yet  his 
Gospel  issued  no  proclamation  of  immediate 
emancipation.  The  slave  was  even  bidden  to 
serve  his  master  more  faithfully  and  to  remain 
content  with  his  lot ;  yet  how  surely,  through 
the  lapse  of  centuries,  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
was  bringing  to  pass  freedom  for  all  mankind ! 

Our  Lord  made  wine,  that  superior  wine  of 
such  excellent  quality  as  to  astonish  the  expert 
who  presided  at  the  banquet;  and  yet,  while 
thus  entering  into  the  customs  of  the  times, 
accepting  conditions  as  they  were,  he  taught 
ever  emphatically  that  temperance  is  always 
imperative,  that  abstinence,  if  for  no  other 
reason  than  to  avoid  offense  to  others,  is  ne- 
cessary, that  the  body  is  a  temple  for  the  in- 
dwelling of  God,  and  that  all  the  physical  and 
mental  faculties  must  be  kept  clear  and  un- 
clouded for  service  both  to  God  and  to  man. 

Fasting  was  in  vogue  when  Jesus  was  on 
earth.  John  and  his  disciples  fasted  oft ;  Jesus 
and  his  disciples  did  not  fast,  and  were  taunted 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  71 

in  consequence  by  unbelieving  Jews  as  glutton- 
ous and  winebibbers.  While  not  himself  fast- 
ing, yet  he  neither  condemned  nor  approved 
fasting.  Once  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the 
English  Bible  there  appears  a  seeming  indorse- 
ment of  fasting,  in  the  phrase  uttered  when 
Jesus  descended  from  the  Mount  of  Transfigur- 
ation and  found  the  disciples  unable  to  heal  the 
paralytic  boy :  "  This  kind  goeth  not  out  save 
by  prayer  and  fasting."  But  in  the  Revised 
Version  the  word  "fasting"  disappears,  as  it 
ought  on  textual  authority ;  and  in  all  the  New 
Testament  there  really  appears  no  approval  of 
the  custom.  In  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
Jesus  says  simply,  "Moreover  when  ye  fast, 
be  not  as  the  hypocrites  of  a  sad  countenance ; 
for  they  disfigure  their  faces  that  they  may  be 
seen  of  men  to  fast.  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
they  have  their  reward.  But  thou,  when  thou 
fastest,  anoint  thy  head,  and  wash  thy  face; 
that  thou  be  not  seen  of  men  to  fast,  but  of 
thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret ;  and  thy 
Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  recompense 
thee."  It  is  as  though  he  had  said,  If  ye  choose 
to  fast,  then  fast,  but  make  no  sanctimonious 
show  of  it  to  attract  the  attention  of  men. 

Sickness  in  the  days  of  Jesus  was  thought  by 
the  people  to  be  due  to  possession  by  demons. 
Jesus  did  not  turn  aside  from  his  ministry  of 


72  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

reconciliation  to  impart  instruction  in  nosology, 
the  science  of  the  causes  of  disease,  nor  in 
therapeutics,  the  science  of  healing.  He  sim- 
ply healed  the  sick  and  let  medical  science 
develop  in  its  time. 

It  is  very  plain  that  Jesus  entered  into  the 
life  of  men  as  a  consecutive  factor.  He  took 
the  times  as  they  were,  and  life  as  it  was, 
and  religion  as  it  was.  He  did  not  institute 
a  revolution  by  proclaiming  anarchy ;  he  did 
not  clear  the  field  by  compulsion.  He  ob- 
served conditions  then  existing;  he  entered 
into  circumstances  as  they  were.  His  were 
changes  wrought  from  within  outwardly,  and 
not  of  that  kind  which  skim  the  surface  with- 
out affecting  the  interior.  t  His  was  the  method 
of  evolution,  and  the  principles  he  employed 
are  profoundly  instructive  for  his  disciples 
to-day. 

In  the  first  place,  a  standard  by  which  to 
judge  both  men  and  measures  is  presented  to  us. 
We  are  required  to  try  the  spirits,  to  prove  all 
things,  and  hold  fast  that  which  is  good.  We 
certainly  need  some  criterion  by  which  to  make 
our  tests.  Here  is  such  a  criterion.  Construc- 
tiveness,  not  destructiveness,  is  a  reliable  touch- 
stone. Does  a  man  or  measure  simply  scout 
the  past,  repudiate  the  present,  denounce,  re- 
ject, destroy  ?    Then,  we  may  well  regard  such 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  73 

a  man  or  measure  with  suspicion.  Iconoclasm 
befits  not  the  times  of  Anglo-Saxons.  Renan, 
the  late  French  apostle  of  myths,  said  wisely, 
in  the  preface  to  his  personal  memoirs,  "The 
true  men  of  progress  are  those  who  have  for 
their  starting-point  a  profound  respect  for  the 
past." 

A  man  who  derides  what  others  have  done 
and  are  doing,  who  sees  good  in  nothing  save 
that  which  he  himself  achieves,  is  generally  a 
man  whose  outlook  is  limited  and  whose  activi- 
ties are  partial,  onesided,  and  unreliable.  A 
man  who  upsets,  overthrows,  and  seeks  to  de- 
stroy what  already  exists,  cannot  himself  pos- 
sess a  large  share  of  truth  and  utility.  From 
the  nature  of  the  case  he  not  only  expends  his 
time  and  resources  in  destructiveness,  but  still 
worse,  fails  so  to  relate  his  efforts  and  achieve- 
ments to  previous  accomplishments  as  to  give 
stability  and  permanence  to  his  work.  While 
the  "  assentator,"  as  the  old  Romans  used  to 
term  the  man  who  always  said  "yes,  yes,"  is 
not  to  be  trusted,  because,  if  not  designedly 
seeking  to  flatter,  he  at  least  lacks  convictions 
of  his  own,  yet  the  dissentator,  —  to  coin  a 
word,  —  is  still  less  to  be  trusted,  for,  lacking 
wisdom  to  discern  that  which  may  be  good 
about  him,  he  does  not  allow  the  wisdom  of 
others  to  have  effect.     The  flatterer  and  cheap 


74  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

henchman  magnify  and  extend  the  influence  of 
their  leaders,  adding  by  their  influence,  how- 
ever small,  some  potency  to  constructive  plans 
and  purposes  ;  while  the  habitual  denier  isolates 
himself,  limits  his  own  energies,  and  attains  no 
permanent  result,  for  even  if  successful  in  his 
destructiveness,  he  has  simply  heaped  the 
ground  with  ruins. 

It  seems  to  be  a  fashion  in  some  quarters  to 
seek  notoriety  through  negations,  some  persons 
seeming  to  consider  it  an  evidence  of  thinking 
better  than  their  predecessors  to  repudiate  what 
their  predecessors  have  thought.  Young  people 
ought  to  seek  as  friends  those  whose  conversa- 
tion is  filled  with  words  of  appreciation  and 
approval  for  the  good  there  is  in  the  world, 
rather  than  those  who  but  criticise,  censure,  and 
denounce.  A  carping,  chronic  fault-finder  is, 
from  the  philosophical  point  of  view,  a  fool 
rather  than  a  wise  man.  If  one  finds  a  princi- 
ple or  an  organization,  the  constant  tendency 
of  which  seems  to  be  to  deny  and  destroy,  no 
better  counsel  could  be  given  than  to  avoid  it. 
To  what  service  divine  providence  can  put  a 
church,  or  a  sect,  or  a  man  whose  chief  activity 
is  debate,  whose  effects  are  divisive  and  schis- 
matic, it  is  difficult  to  determine.  Construc- 
tiveness,  consecutiveness,  development,  growth, 
these   words   describe   a  principle   which    the 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  75 

wisest  minds  of  all  ages  have  found  in  the  facts 
of  man,  nature,  and  revelation. 

But,  besides  giving  us  a  standard  by  which  to 
judge  of  men  and  measures,  the  principles  in- 
volved in  the  method  of  the  Master  present  us 
with  a  model  to  imitate.  The  Christ  entered 
into  existing  conditions.  Divine  truth  is  not 
revolutionary  ;  it  is  gentle  and  pervasive.  We 
need  not  say  that  it  simply  assimilates  unto 
itself,  but  rather  it  allows  itself  to  be  assimi- 
lated and  absorbed.  Truly,  the  human  mind 
has  had  revealed  to  it  such  facts  as  a  divine  con- 
formity to  the  world,  a  divine  compliance  with 
customs  and  practices  of  the  day,  a  divine  adap- 
tation to  specific  surroundings,  and  even  a  di- 
vine expediency  that  is  willing  to  lose  itself  in 
that  which  it  blesses. 

The  whole  mission  of  Christ  upon  earth  is 
illustrative  of  this  descent  from  the  higher  to 
the  lower  for  the  sake  of  the  lower,  that  the 
lower  might  by  gradual,  consecutive  changes 
rise  toward  the  higher.  Humanity  climbs  to- 
ward divinity  because  divinity  first  condescended 
to  come  down  unto  humanity.  They  teach  well 
who  bend  to  the  level  of  the  ignorant.  They 
live  well  who  adapt  their  highest  ideals  to  the 
hardest  exigencies  of  stern  reality.  They  are 
Christ-like  who  maintain  their  Christianity  by 
living  practically  their  faith  in  all  the  walks  of 


76  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

life,  evenly,  sweetly,  consecutively  in  all  expe- 
riences. 

Monasticism  and  the  monkish  spirit  are  flatly 
contradictory  to  this  model.  As  Jesus  mingled 
with  men  and  entered  into  the  ways  of  men, 
so  the  Christian  disciple  needs  to  continue  in 
the  ordinary  routine  of  life,  making  all  life 
Christian.  Seclusion,  separation,  and  sanctimo- 
niousness are  not  sanctioned  by  the  Master's 
example.  It  was,  and  ever  has  been,  absurd 
for  monks  and  nuns  to  withdraw  into  their 
caves  and  convents ;  but  it  is  no  less  absurd 
now  for  men  to  limit  themselves  to  Sunday 
services  for  their  religious  exercises  and  ex- 
periences, and  not  to  take  these  exercises  and 
experiences  with  them  into  all  the  affairs  of  the 
week.  There  is  not  so  grave  danger  to-day 
that  the  Sabbath  will  be  desecrated  by  unbe- 
lievers as  that  week  days  will  not  be  hallowed 
by  believers.  It  is  the  monkish  spirit  that 
thinks  Christianity  is  not  practical  for  business 
and  housekeeping,  for  school  and  college,  for 
the  farm  and  shop,  and  all  tasks  of  ordinary  life, 
but  can  thrive  only  within  sacred  precincts  and 
under  certain  artificial  circumstances  away  from 
the  common  course  of  life.  Too  many  men  in 
this  spirit  permit  their  religious  experiences 
to  become  isolated  aspirations  on  one  day  in 
the  week,  separated  from  all  other  like  aspira- 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  77 

tions  by  the  chilling  period  of  six  "  secular " 
days. 

But  Christian  lives  should  be  made  consecu- 
tive. They  should  be  maintained  warm  and 
vital  every  hour.  No  tasks  are  mean,  none 
need  be  uncongenial,  to  righteousness.  Chris- 
tianity may  be  adapted  without  harm  to  every 
circumstance  in  which  necessity  places  a  dis- 
ciple, and  to  a  very  large  majority  of  the  circum- 
stances which  the  disciple  may  select  whether 
for  pleasure  or  profit.  It  is  Christ-like  to  be  a 
Christian  while  in  the  world  and  among  men. 

In  its  efforts  to  relieve  distress,  rectify  evils, 
and  institute  the  reforms  of  the  present  day, 
society  needs  also  to  learn  to  imitate  the  ex- 
ample of  Jesus.  Patience  first  of  all  is  needed. 
Changes,  if  of  value  and  destined  to  accomplish 
real  benefit,  must  develop  slowly,  striking  deep 
root,  into  the  very  nature  of  the  men  or  things 
affected.  The  reformer  must  recognize  present 
conditions  before  he  can  expect  to  see  modi- 
fications according  to  his  desires.  Sympathy 
must  knit  him  to  the  present  before  he  can 
change  the  present. 

It  has  been  discovered  in  these  latter  days 
that  money  alone  does  not  relieve  poverty,  but 
may  aggravate  it ;  that  opportunities  for  work 
do  not  of  themselves  bring  thrift  and  comfort 
to    improvident   households ;    that   tracts   and 


78  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

Bibles  will  not  alone  carry  cheer  and  gladness 
into  godless  homes.  Something  additional  is 
needful ;  that  is  sympathy,  the  actual  touch  of 
one  human  soul  upon  another.  The  only  way 
really  to  give  is  to  give  of  one's  self.  It  is  the 
bestowment  of  self  that  determines  whether  all 
other  gifts  are  means  of  relief  or  are  actual 
occasions  of  offense.  Christ  came  among  men ; 
conserving  the  good  he  found,  he  made  it  bet- 
ter, and  gave  it  life  that  it  might  itself  grow, 
extend,  develop,  and  know  the  full  potency  of 
itself  and  its  divine  impartation.  In  seeking 
any  reform  it  is  necessary  to  recognize  the 
principle  of  consecutiveness,  what  is  being  the 
starting  point  and  what  is  being  also  the  con- 
sideration to  determine  the  exact  form  that 
efforts  for  modification  shall  assume. 

Then,  further,  by  the  method  he  employed, 
Christ  has  given  the  world  a  means  of  forecast- 
ing the  future  of  Christianity.  Inasmuch  as 
religion  expands  consecutively,  the  prophet  of 
to-day,  by  looking  far  enough  into  the  past,  can 
discover  the  direction  of  expansion,  and  esti- 
mate the  course  and  rate  of  progress.  A  famous 
orator  of  our  colonial  days  declared,  "  I  have  no 
way  of  judging  of  the  future,  except  by  the 
past."  It  is  this  manner  of  judging  of  Chris- 
tianity's prospects  which  the  method  of  the 
Master  affords. 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  79 

The  past  shows  wonderful  progress.  Chris- 
tianity does  not  seek  mere  lip-service.  If  her 
devotees  ever  have  been  content  with  that,  they 
have  had  what  they  sought,  an  ephemeral  suc- 
cess ;  but  the  permanent  gains  of  Christianity 
are  of  the  kind  that  do  not  depend  upon  mere 
profession ;  they  must  develop  from  the  heart, 
and  find  expression  in  character.  Such  gains 
are  necessarily  slow.  When  the  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  Christianity  are  considered,  —  the 
centuries  of  inherited  institutions  behind  it, 
the  deeply  fixed  tendencies  and  evils  around 
it,  the  false  religions  to  overcome,  and  this,  too, 
not  by  violence  and  force,  but  gently,  as  the 
sunshine  overcomes  miasma, — the  gains  have 
been  marvelous. 

The  followers  of  Jesus  at  first  were  but  a 
dozen,  and  these  had  scarcely  caught  a  glimpse 
of  his  truth  and  his  spirit  when  he  was  taken 
away.  But  the  numbers  soon  took  on  a  rapid 
growth.  Despite  misconceptions,  perversities, 
monstrosities,  exaggerations,  fanatical  delusions, 
enemies  within  and  without,  Christianity  grew 
in  the  apostolic  days  at  a  marvelous  rate  of 
increase.  The  new  faith  outlived  opposition, 
survived  persecution,  survived  the  greater  dan- 
gers of  royal  patronage,  outlived  the  dark  ages, 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  insidious  evils  of  modern 
civilization  still  preserves  its  essential  charac- 


80  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

teristics,  sinking  constantly  deeper  into  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  race,  and  taking  firmer  hold 
upon  the  lives  of  men. 

The  history  of  the  Christian  religion  reads 
like  a  miracle,  when  one  considers  both  its 
hindrances  and  the  weakness  of  the  human 
vessels  to  which  it  was  intrusted.  How  a 
student  of  history  can  be  a  pessimist,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  see.  A  thoughtful  review  of  but  a  sin- 
gle century  discloses  rapid  strides  and  marked 
improvement  in  almost  every  respect.  Let 
one  investigate  the  subjects  of  law,  crime, 
drunkenness,  slavery,  the  condition  of  woman, 
the  purity  of  the  family,  love  of  truth,  respect 
for  private  possessions,  and  one  will  be  im- 
pressed with  the  wonderful  advancement ;  while 
a  yet  wider  view  of  the  past,  from  the  time 
of  the  advent  of  Christ,  brings  out  in  still 
clearer  relief  the  remarkable  development  of 
the  world  toward  truth  and  righteousness  and 
God. 

The  world  is  growing  better,  the  tendency  is 
toward  the  light ;  and  the  consecutiveness  of 
the  past,  running  through  the  present,  forecasts 
a  brighter  future.  Whatever  changes  are  in 
store  cannot  be  destructive.  Divine  power  has 
come  into  the  world,  and  not  to  destroy  but  to 
fulfill.  The  constructive  are  more  than  all  the 
destructive  forces.     Past  and  present  are  filled 


THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION.  81 

with  the  forces  of  a  divine  life  working  out  the 
world's  redemption. 

The  church  at  large  is  more  active  in  good 
works  to-day  than  ever  before,  more  earnest  in 
evangelization,  more  potent  in  preaching,  more 
practical  and  sympathetic  in  ministration,  more 
Christ-like  in  every  respect.  The  auxiliary  or- 
ganizations multiply  her  resources  and  increase 
her  efficiency  in  every  direction. 

Surely  the  outlook  is  bright.  Golden  oppor- 
tunities are  at  hand.  Unto  the  church  the  pur- 
pose, the  plan,  and  the  efficiency  of  a  divine 
person  have  been  given,  of  a  person  who  leads 
onward  consecutively  into  truth  and  unto  vic- 
tory, till  all  the  gracious  thoughts  of  an  infinite 
love  shall  have  been  fulfilled.  The  Master's 
method  is  one  of  progression  and  development. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CREATIVE   ACTS. 

The  principle  of  evolution  has  been  dem- 
onstrated in  most  of  the  progress  discernible 
in  the  world's  history  and  in  the  process  of 
change  taking  place  within  nature's  wide  realm. 
Among  men,  also,  in  their  political  organiza- 
tions, their  intellectual  pursuits,  and  all  the 
affairs  which  characterize  their  civilization  and 
culture,  a  consecutive,  developing  growth  may 
in  most  respects  be  predicated.  Even  the  spir- 
itual experiences  of  individuals  and  of  the  race 
fall  in  large  part  into  the  same  category.  Jesus 
Christ  joined  with  the  prophecy,  the  religious 
training  and  the  divine  preparation  which  had 
been  granted  to  the  past.  He  unfolded  his  own 
teaching  progressively. 

Within  certain  limits,  the  principle  of  devel- 
opment which  science  has  formulated  may  be 
pronounced  valid  by  every  thoughtful  person. 
But  limits  must  be  recognized.  To  discern 
them  and  to  recognize  the  nature  of  the 
energy  which  produces  the  growth  and  de- 
82 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  83 

velopment  is  to  distinguish  between  theistic 
evolution  and  those  other  forms  of  evolution 
better  designated  as  materialistic,  or  pantheistic. 
Theistic  evolution  simply  indicates  a  certain 
mode  in  which  God  works.  This  work  proceeds 
through  an  ascending  scale  of  existences  with 
such  quietness  and  slight  gradations  that  the 
nature  of  the  power  and  the  reality  of  a  person 
at  work  are  often  overlooked,  but  at  occasional 
limits,  or  bounds,  special  forms  appear,  seem- 
ingly demanding  a  special  power.  It  is  at 
these  bounds  that  God  is  best  seen. 

The  first  particle  of  matter,  that  original 
nucleus  of  the  nebulous  mass  which  subse- 
quently whirled  in  space  and  formed  a  universe, 

—  whence  came  that  primal  substance  ?  Mat- 
ter is  eternal,  some  have  said.  But  this  answer 
does  not  satisfy.  Matter  has  not  the  attributes 
of  mind.  No  microscopic  examination,  no  close 
analysis  has  yet  shown  that  the  gray  particles 
of  a  human  brain,  the  most  finely  organized  and 
wondrously  endowed  of  any  material  substances, 
move  from  material  causes  alone.  There  must 
be  something  more  than  they,  something  im- 
material, directing  them.  No  theory  of  the  uni- 
verse—  that  vast  organization  of  material  parts 

—  has  yet  accounted  for  the  beginning  of  things 
in  other  reasonable  terms  than  to  predicate 
mind  back  of  matter.     The  first  half-clause  of 


84  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

the  Bible  epitomizes  the  best  wisdom  of  science, 
philosophy,  and  revelation :  "  In  the  beginning 
God  created."  At  that  farthest  bound  the  utter 
necessity  of  a  God  is  felt. 

With  this  predication  of  beginning,  we  may 
let  geology,  astronomy,  biology,  and  all  the 
allied  sciences  then  give  their  utterances.  The 
nebular  hypothesis  seems  credible  ;  we  may  ac- 
cept it,  if  those  who  are  specially  versed  in  the 
modes  and  methods  of  nature  tell  us  it  is  the 
only  hypothesis  yet  known  to  man  that  in  any 
measure  adequately  accounts  for  observed  facts. 
A  cosmic  dust,  a  chaotic  mist  may  have  been 
the  first  product  of  God's  creation,  which  he 
saw  was  "without  form  and  void."  It  was, 
nevertheless,  his  creation  ;  it  was  endowed  with 
properties  which  he  had  given,  and  it  must  obey 
his  laws.  Then  the  forces  which  he  himself 
imparted,  agitate,  impel,  affect  this  first  crea- 
tion. Modification  at  once  begins ;  differen- 
tiation follows ;  order  comes  gradually  out  of 
chaos ;  and  in  the  slow  process  of  development 
inorganic  matter  assumes  its  manifold  shapes. 

But  another  limit  in  the  unfolding  series  is 
met  when  the  first  form  of  life  appears.  In 
earth  and  rocks  and  metals,  in  chemical  ele- 
ments, liquids,  acids,  solids,  there  is  no  life. 
The  closest  study  in  all  the  laboratories  of  the 
world  has  shown  that  life  alone  begets  life.     No 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  85 

such  possibility  as  spontaneous  generation  has 
ever  been  discovered.  Development  from  the 
cosmic  dust  to  the  full-orbed  star  and  planet, 
the  great  sun  and  moon,  and  the  round  world 
may  be  possible ;  but  there  appears  an  impass- 
able gulf  between  mere  matter  and  matter 
endowed  with  life,  however  near  towards  the 
pioneer  front  of  inorganic  matter  be  pushed  the 
lowest  type  of  organic  existence.  A  new  act 
of  creation  at  this  point  seems  imperative. 
When  life  exists,  there  must  have  been  life 
before  it.  In  pure  matter  there  is  no  life. 
That  gulf  must  have  been  bridged  by  God. 
He,  the  source  of  life,  gave  life,  and  with  this 
gift  a  new  order  of  development  begins. 

What  marvelous  forms,  what  plenitude  of 
beauty,  what  variety  of  uses  and  pleasures  are 
exhibited  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  from  the 
tiny,  almost  imperceptible  mosses,  lichens  and 
molds,  to  the  gigantic  sequoias  of  California ! 
The  flowers,  the  grains,  the  fruits,  how  innum- 
erable !  Yet  we  can  readily  conceive  that  all 
these,  though  well-nigh  infinite  in  variety,  may 
have  developed  from  primary,  simple  forms 
when  once  the  initiative  was  given  and  the 
laws  of  modification  prescribed. 

It  may  be  that  this  initiative  and  these  laws 
were  of  sufficient  potency  and  scope  to  extend 
beyond   the  vegetable   limits  into  the  animal 


86  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

kingdom,  for  there  are  forms  of  life  manifest- 
ing characteristics  of  both  the  animal  and  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  and  seeming  to  belong  to 
each.  Perhaps  the  transition  from  the  one  to 
the  other  has  been  by  developing  powers  in- 
herent within  the  first  plant-life,  and  no  new 
creative  act  has  been  necessary  to  enter  the 
realm  of  animate  beings. 

But,  whatever  the  truth  may  be  at  this  point, 
on  ascending  the  scale  of  animal  existence 
a  limit  of  natural  expansion,  extension  and 
growth  is  met  when  man  is  found.  Physically 
he  may  have  descended  from  the  anthropoid 
ape,  but  he  possesses  a  new,  a  moral  nature, 
which  the  beast  does  not  possess,  and  the 
germs  of  which  it  is  hard  to  prove  the  brute 
in  any  degree  manifests,  despite  Herbert  Spen- 
cer's contention  that  the  human  conscience  is 
seen  in  its  incipiency  in  a  dog's  fear  of  pun- 
ishment when,  after  wrong  doing,  he  skulks  to 
his  corner.  The  highest  form  of  ape  stands  on 
the  other  side  of  a  gulf  from  man.  Physical 
and  mental  qualities  may  be  similar,  may  be 
closely  related,  but  there  is  in  man,  even  in 
the  lowest  type  of  man  (inherent,  albeit  for 
a  time  dormant)  a  capacity  to  discern  between 
good  and  evil,  to  entertain  and  appreciate  con- 
ceptions of  abstract  truth,  to  exercise  and 
evince  qualities  which  we  term  ethical,  such 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  87 

as  the  ape,  anthropoid  though  he  be,  has  never 
given  slightest  token  of  possessing. 

Yet  another  limit  in  the  order  of  develop- 
ment, no  less  significant  than  the  preceding, 
has  been  indicated  by  Jesus  Christ  at  the  point 
where  morality  would  pass  into  Christian  char- 
acter. On  his  authority  a  new  creative  act 
is  here  necessary.  A  man  by  the  exercise  of 
his  moral  faculties,  by  effort  improving  every 
excellence  and  virtue  within  him,  nevertheless 
cannot,  without  aid  from  above,  make  himself 
a  Christian,  cannot  perfect  his  spiritual  vision 
and  render  himself  spiritually  minded.  He 
must  have  a  new  nature  begun  within  him ; 
he  must  "be  born  again."  This  demands 
divine  intervention,  a  direct  divine  impartation, 
an  impartation  of  life,  which  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  described  as  the  new  birth.  There 
follows  then  opportunity  for  development  in 
Christian  excellence,  for  growth  in  grace  and 
knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  transi- 
tion from  babes  fed  with  the  sincere  milk  of 
the  word  into  adults  partaking  of  the  strong 
meat  of  the  Gospel,  from  the  condition  of 
children,  speaking  and  thinking  as  children, 
unto  that  of  men  who  have  put  away  childish 
things  in  religion,  who  seek  the  perfection  of 
Christian  graces  by  working  out  their  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling. 


88  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

The  four  bounds  which  we  have  considered 
separate  the  course  of  development  into  four 
segments:  the  inorganic  realm,  or  realm  of 
mere  matter;  the  organic  realm,  or  realm 
of  natural  life ;  the  human  realm,  or  realm  of 
moral  perception;  and  the  spiritual  realm,  or, 
to  use  the  New  Testament  term,  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  These  realms  are  in  an  ascending 
scale  of  vastly  increasing  values.  They  may 
be  named  the  mineral  kingdom,  the  vegetable 
and  animal  kingdom,  the  moral  kingdom,  and 
the  spiritual  kingdom,  or  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  Their  bounds  are  the  points  at  which 
creative  acts  of  the  Almighty  are  apparent. 

In  the  Gospels  the  terms  "kingdom  of 
heaven"  and  "kingdom  of  God"  are  used 
synonymously.  Sometimes  the  bare  phrase 
"the  kingdom"  is  employed.  This  kingdom 
is  the  great  cardinal  fact  proclaimed.  John 
the  Baptist,  though  not  understanding  it,  came 
to  introduce  it :  "  Repent  ye ;  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  at  hand."  Jesus  brought  as  the  first 
message  on  his  lips,  "  The  time  is  fulfilled,  and 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand  ;  repent  ye  and 
believe  the  Gospel."  His  teachings  were  con- 
cerning that  kingdom.  Nearly  all  his  parables 
had  that  for  their  basis  ;  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
was  likened  to  seed  and  sowers,  to  leaven,  to 
lost  coin,  and  precious  pearls ;  to  erring  sons, 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  89 

and  wandering  sheep,  to  a  vineyard,  a  marriage 
feast,  a  great  supper,  a  householder  going  into 
a  far  country,  and  many  other  similitudes. 
The  kingdom  of  God  was  the  theme  of  conver- 
sation and  discourse  in  the  synagogue,  on  the 
mount,  in  Jerusalem,  in  the  field ;  with  Nico- 
demus,  with  the  disciples,  with  the  twelve,  with 
the  Pharisees. 

Jesus  did  not  teach  that  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  was  to  be  set  up  at  some  future  time, 
on  his  return  to  earth ;  then  it  might  be  pro- 
claimed and  completed ;  but  it  began  with  him, 
and  through  his  gentle  teaching  was  made  man- 
ifest as  already  founded.  He  did  not  say  that 
men  would  enter  it  at,  or  after,  death,  but  that 
while  here  on  earth,  in  this  present  life,  men 
could  enter  it  and  were  entering  it.  The  citi- 
zens of  that  kingdom  became  recipients  of  a 
new  life  now.  What  their  blessings  and  privi- 
leges might  be  in  the  hereafter  were  not  the 
only,  nor  indeed  the  great,  considerations,  but 
their  new  life,  new  joys,  new  duties,  and  new 
activities  in  the  present  were  chief  and  emphatic. 
The  kingdom  of  God  was  a  present  reality  on 
the  lips  of  Jesus,  and  not  a  prediction.  It  had 
already  come  ;  and  yet  he  toiled  and  prayed  that 
it  might  come  still  more  fully.  He  also  taught 
his  disciples,  the  citizens  of  the  kingdom,  to  pray 
and  toil  for  its  extension  :  "Thy  kingdom  come." 


90  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

The  Jew  had  expected  the  restoration  of  the 
throne  of  David,  and  the  reestablishment  of 
the  temporal  kingdom.  John  the  Baptist  shared 
this  expectation ;  and  the  apostles  could  not 
rid  themselves  of  it  until  after  the  Ascension. 
Not  that  would  Jesus  build.  The  highest  bless- 
ings which  God  could  bestow  were  not  neces- 
sarily connected  with  prosperity  in  the  nation, 
pride  in  the  household,  and  patriotic  satisfaction 
and  comfort  in  the  individual.  Jesus  let  earthly 
governments  alone,  —  far  wiser  than  have  been 
his  reputed  vice-regents  who  sit  on  the  bank  of 
the  Tiber.  But  there  are  men  to-day,  neither 
Jews  nor  Romanists,  who  expect,  nevertheless, 
a  kind  of  Jewish  kingdom  and  ecclesiastical 
sovereignty  as  the  greatest  work  that  Chris- 
tianity can  accomplish.  They  would  institute 
a  kind  of  social  revolution,  restore  primitive 
conditions,  on  the  principle  —  to  travesty  it  a 
little  —  that  to  give  every  man  "  ten  acres  and 
a  cow,"  would  convert  and  Christianize  him. 
Had  this  been  the  remedy  for  the  world  we 
might  expect  that  Christ  would  himself  have 
instituted  some  such  social  reform ;  but  while 
he  healed  bodies  and  relieved  distresses,  having 
and  evincing  unfailing  compassion  toward  all 
who  were  in  any  way  unfortunate,  he  made  not 
external  but  internal  conditions  chief  and  em- 
phatic. 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  91 

John  the  Baptist  did  not  view  the  kingdom 
of  God  as  did  Jesus,  although  appointed  a  special 
forerunner  to  usher  it  in.  He  could  be  used 
for  a  work  which  he  did  not  fully  comprehend. 
If  guided  by  an  architect  wiser  than  he,  he 
could  build  better  than  he  knew.  John  the 
Baptist  was  a  gloomy  man,  certainly  stern  and 
severe  in  his  conception  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  in  his  presentation  of  it.  John 
withdrew  to  the  desert,  fasted  oft,  preached 
sternly,  "  Repent,  —  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for 
repentance."  He  declared  that  he  who  came 
after  him  came  with  judicial  axe  laid  at  the  root 
of  the  tree  and  an  eschatological  fan  within  his 
hand  to  thoroughly  purge  the  floor.  '  He  told 
the  people  to  impart  clothing  and  food  to  the 
destitute,  the  tax-gatherers  to  be  honest  in  col- 
lections, the  soldiers  to  refrain  from  violence 
and  be  content  with  their  pay.  His  proclama- 
tion was  one  of  judgment ;  his  view  of  reforma- 
tion was  to  alter  conduct.  There  are  John  the 
Baptists  to-day,  denunciatory,  threatening,  warn- 
ing, who,  though  eager  to  fulfill  a  divine  commis- 
sion, do  not  perceive  the  true  essentials  of  that 
commission. 

The  kingdom  of  heaven  does  not  come  with 
sternness,  does  not  begin  with  preaching  judg- 
ment, does  not  undertake  primarily  to  rectify 
conduct.     Jesus  lived  among  men,  remaining  in 


92  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

the  deserts  apart  from  men  only  during  his 
forty  days  fast,  and  the  few  weeks  of  retirement 
shortly  before  his  crucifixion.  But  the  haunts 
of  men  were  his  haunts.  He  brought  the  king- 
dom to  them  and  thus  sought  to  introduce  them 
to  the  kingdom.  He  associated  with  the  fami- 
lies, and  sat  at  the  feasts  of  men  and  moved 
among  the  crowds.  With  the  axe  he  would  not 
smite  the  bruised  reed ;  with  the  fan  he  extin- 
guished not  the  smoking  flax :  "  Neither  do  I 
condemn  thee ;  go  and  sin  no  more."  All  moral 
excellence  he  made  rest  in  motive;  all  Chris- 
tian grace  to  spring  from  the  heart.  He  em- 
phasized the  inward  condition ;  and  so  not 
deeds,  not  conduct,  does  he  dwell  upon,  so  much 
as  faith  and  love  and  intention.  With  these, 
right  conduct  will  regulate  itself. 

While  John  might  bid  a  man  guard  his  hand, 
Jesus  would  bid  him  guard  his  heart.  Accord- 
ing to  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  anger  is  murder 
at  one  stage ;  lust,  though  as  yet  unfulfilled,  is 
the  equivalent  of  adultery  committed.  Christ 
prefers  the  amputation  of  hand  or  foot  rather 
than  the  commission  of  sin  in  the  heart.  The 
external  might  perish ;  the  internal  must  be 
preserved. 

John  the  Baptist,  while  in  prison,  doubted 
whether  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  because  Jesus 
did  not   come  with  stern    judgments,  speedy 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  93 

issues,  and  the  establishment  of  a  throne.  He 
looked  for  the  axe  and  the  fan  which  he  had 
proclaimed.  Jesus  was  waiting  for  inward 
assimilation  of  the  truth,  for  slow  growth,  for 
development  of  life  according  to  the  divine 
impartation.  John  expected  his  own  message 
to  be  literally  and  immediately  fulfilled. 

Many  of  us  are,  like  John,  impatient.  Hav- 
ing uttered  a  truth,  true  in  the  morning,  we 
forget  that  at  noontime  its  pertinence,  like  the 
dawn  of  the  morning,  may  have  passed  away. 
We  judge  also  the  coming  and  the  spread  of 
the  kingdom  too  frequently  by  the  standard  of 
our  own  restricted  horizon,  becoming  doubtful 
and  even  discouraged,  if  our  hopes,  the  offspring 
of  first  convictions,  are  not  straightway  verified 
and  established.  The  kingdom  is  God's  king- 
dom. We  cannot  dictate  to  it,  cannot  hurry  it 
outside  of  God's  plan,  cannot  alter  its  essential 
character. 

This  kingdom  cannot  be  augmented,  as  Jes- 
uits have  thought,  by  capturing  savages,  baptiz- 
ing them  by  force  and  terming  them  Christians  ; 
or,  as  Vladimir  tried  with  his  Russians,  having 
sixty  thousand  in  a  day  baptized  at  military 
command,  without  regard  to  faith  and  inward 
assimilation  of  truth.  The  kingdom  of  God 
can  spread  among  men  only  by  that  creative 
act  involved  in  the  new  birth,  that  spiritual  im- 


94  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

pact  of  the  divine  truth  which  comes  through 
faith  and  personal  surrender,  and  by  the  growth 
consequent  thereto. 

This  spiritual  life  is  not  a  life  perpetuated  by 
inheritance  from  parents,  is  not  a  life  in  the 
line  of  developing  excellences  and  moral  char- 
acteristics—  although  a  godly  heritage  and 
moral  excellences  may  be  like  good  soil,  favor- 
able to  good  seed,  —  but  is  a  life  issuing  di- 
rectly from  the  Creator,  a  new  life.  It  is  not  a 
new  manner  of  life,  —  that  were  mere  conduct ; 
the  very  words  of  the  original  tongue  which 
Jesus  employed  show  this ;  but  it  is  life  itself, 
that  which  exists  and  is  manifest  in  mutually 
related  functions,  not  the  manner  of  manifesta- 
tion nor  the  mode  of  operation. 

Regeneration  does  not  mean  simply  a  change 
from  immorality  to  morality.  That  would  be 
no  more  than  John  the  Baptist  required,  a  con- 
formity to  outward  requirements.  It  includes 
this  change,  but  it  means  far  more ;  it  involves 
new  discernment,  new  capacities,  new  duties, 
new  affections,  new  aspirations,  new  blessings, 
—  indeed  an  extension,  not  perfect  at  first,  yet 
begun,  into  all  the  spiritual  activities  of  which 
the  soul  of  man,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  is 
capable.  The  Apostle  Paul  was  as  moral  a  man 
before  his  conversion  as  after  it.  He  honestly 
thought  that  he  was  serving  God  in  persecuting 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  95 

the  church  and  hindering  the  kingdom  all  he 
could.  After  his  conversion  he  could  be  no  more 
honest,  no  more  well-meaning  ;  but  he  had  a  new- 
nature  which  enabled  him  to  discern  differently, 
love  differently,  and  experience  satisfaction  in  a 
new  sphere  of  activity.  He  was  a  new  man 
spiritually,  while  unchanged  morally.  He  had 
a  new  life,  and  that  new  life  was  more  than  an 
accession  of  morality,  more  than  a  mere  altera- 
tion in  his  mode  of  living.  Some  men  have 
marked  moral  changes  at  the  time  of  the  new 
birth,  but  the  degree  of  change  is  due  to  pre- 
vious condition.  According  to  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  the  essential  character  of  the  spiritual 
life  is  that  it  issues  from  the  Spirit. 

This  internal  change,  however,  does  not  take 
place  without  cooperation  on  the  part  of  man. 
While  the  operations  of  the  Spirit  are  still, 
subtle,  and  mysterious,  even  like  the  wind,  the 
presence  of  which  we  feel,  and  the  effects  of 
which  we  see,  without  beholding  the  wind  it- 
self, yet  the  Spirit's  operations  are  not  unex- 
pected, erratic,  nor  arbritary  in  coming  and 
going.  Man  can  invite  and  secure  the  work 
of  the  Spirit.  Indeed,  man  must  prepare  for 
the  Spirit,  must  receive  the  Spirit,  and  must 
allow  the  Spirit  to  have  free  control  of  his  heart. 
Man,  then,  in  conversion,  is  born  of  two  cooper- 
ating agencies,  of  his  own  volitions  and  of  the 


96  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

Spirit's  power.  As  in  all  births,  here,  also,  there 
are  two  parents.  Man's  willing  mind,  cooperat- 
ing with  the  divine  mind,  begets  conversion. 
Two  accordant  volitions  produce  a  new  spirit. 

In  his  relation  to  the  individual,  it  was 
Christ's  great  work  to  induce  inward  compli- 
ance with  his  own  will.  He  sought  to  awaken 
faith  in  his  person.  He  exhorted  men  to  be- 
lieve. He  did  many  mighty  works  that  they 
might  believe,  and  in  response  to  belief;  but 
withheld  the  works  when  belief  was  withheld. 
He  revealed  his  love  in  order  to  call  forth  love  ; 
he  showed  compassion,  rendered  service,  gave 
his  life,  as  the  greatest  proof  of  love,  desiring 
love  from  man  in  return.  He  imparted  instruc- 
tion, left  commandments  requiring  obedience, 
the  inward  obedience  of  the  heart.  He  gave 
promises  of  his  presence  and  help  to  inspire  con- 
fidence and  trust.  He  disclosed  difficulties  and 
cross-bearing,  yet  blessedness  and  reward  and 
final  triumph,  in  order  to  call  forth  in  his  disci- 
ples determination,  zeal,  and  consecration.  He 
sought  ever  to  win  men,  to  stir  them,  so  that 
men  should  then  bestir  themselves.  He  sought 
to  win  their  hearts,  their  own  action,  their  coop- 
eration and  allegiance.  In  his  ministry  to  man- 
kind, there  is  not  the  slightest  effort  manifest  to 
coerce  men,  or  to  allure  them  unawares  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  or  in  any  way  to  overlook 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  97 

or  diminish  the  dignity  of  their  own  free  choice 
and  free  act  in  coming  to  him.  Rather,  he 
emphasized  that  independency  of  action,  and 
showed  his  respect  for  man's  noble  freedom  by 
patiently  following  the  sometimes  toilsome  and 
disappointing  path  of  persuasion,  and  by  suffer- 
ing rebuffs,  rejection,  and  final  crucifixion  at 
the  hands  of  men,  who,  in  their  own  determined 
purposes,  would  not  yield  to  his  gentle  influ- 
ences and  loving  appeals.  The  Spirit  seeks, 
but  does  not  seize,  men. 

John  the  Baptist  came,  though  with  harsh 
demeanor  and  uncompromising  message,  yet 
addressing  himself  to  men's  judgments,  as  he 
called  them  to  repentance,  — "  Repent  ye." 
The  baptism  which  John  administered  to  all 
who  came  to  him,  even  to  Jesus  himself,  be- 
came the  most  characteristic  act  associated  with 
John.  It  gave  him  his  name,  the  baptizer. 
When,  therefore,  Jesus,  himself  but  recently 
baptized,  speaks  to  a  person  familiar  with  John's 
work,  of  a  birth  "  of  water  and  of  Spirit "  as 
an  indispensable  preparation  for  entering  the 
kingdom  of  God,  the  most  obvious  and  most 
necessary  understanding  of  the  word  "  water " 
is  of  something  connected  with  that  applica- 
tion of  water,  which  John  for  nine  months  had 
made,  and  still  was  making.  But  the  baptism 
of  John  did  not  stand  alone,  as  a  rite  effica- 


98  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

cious  in  itself.  All  knew  that  John  bade  not 
simply  to  be  baptized,  but  to  repent  and  be 
baptized  ;  and  the  greater  emphasis  rested  upon 
repentance.  Therefore,  the  word  reminding 
men  of  John's  baptism  will  remind  them  of 
John's  essential  and  characteristic  message, 
compliance  with  which  alone  allowed  one  to  be 
baptized,  "  Repent."  Nicodemus,  to  whom 
these  words  were  addressed,  doubtless  so  under- 
stood them.  Such  seems  the  most  obvious 
and  most  natural  meaning.  A  paraphrase 
might  render  the  utterance  as  follows :  "  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  of  a  repenting,  submissive 
mind,  and  of  the  power  of  the  Spirit  cooperat- 
ing therewith,  he  cannot  receive  the  new  life 
which  makes  him  a  member  of  the  kingdom  of 
God." 

From  experience  we  know  full  well  that  bap- 
tism alone,  the  mere  rite,  does  not  produce  con- 
version nor  occasion  spiritual  life.  Ximenes's 
Moors  and  Vladimir's  Russians  were  Moors  and 
Russians  after  baptism  as  before.  Baptism,  as 
a  sacrament,  is  attended  with  various  blessings 
and  peculiar  joys  to  the  person  qualified  to 
receive  it,  but  baptism  follows  conversion,  as 
an  act  of  obedience  and  a  profession  to  the 
world  of  changes  already  wrought.  It  indicates 
death  to  the  old,  and  resurrection  to  the  new 
life. 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  99 

The  kingdom  of  God  has  evinced  its  catho- 
licity by  receiving  all  who  have  ever  with  sim- 
ple, repentant  and  believing  hearts  given  place 
to  the  Spirit's  operation.  It  has  taken  within 
its  borders  the  vilest  sinners,  not  with  their 
sins,  but  despite  their  sins,  already  repented  of  ; 
it  has  given  them  new  life,  and  allowed  within 
them  the  development  of  holiness  and  spiritual 
beauty.  It  has  received  to  itself  the  saints  of 
the  earth.  That  kingdom  has  a  marvelous 
population  to-day.  It  is  both  visible  and  in- 
visible. In  the  invisible  part  are  gathered  the 
nobility  of  all  time  both  from  royal  palaces  and 
from  lowly  hovels,  from  all  lands,  all  climes ; 
the  disciples  of  our  Lord  of  every  age  are 
there. 

But  the  kingdom  here  with  us  on  the  earth  is 
not  wholly  visible  to  the  ordinary  vision.  No 
one  denomination  limits  it.  Doubtless  not  all 
the  denominations  together  fully  include  it. 
The  church  is  its  most  potent,  tangible  repre- 
sentative here  on  earth ;  but  the  church  is  not 
yet  infallible ;  the  church  is  still  very  human. 
Within  her  borders  may  be  some  who  have  not 
yet  come  into  the  kingdom  through  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  new  life,  and  outside  of  her  borders 
are  doubtless  many  more  who,  while  truly  citi- 
zens of  the  kingdom,  have  not  as  yet  allied 
themselves  with  their  fellow-citizens  in  organi- 


100  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

zations  for  the  better  development  of  the  new 
life  bestowed,  and  the  spread  of  the  knowledge 
of  it  throughout  the  world. 

We  pray  for  this  kingdom  to  come.  There 
are  wide  areas  of  the  earth,  thickly  populated, 
where  the  kingdom  as  yet  has  scarcely  been 
named.  There  are  multitudes  of  hearts  sur- 
rounded in  the  most  favored  lands  with  the 
most  favorable  influences  that  as  yet  have 
scarcely  given  the  kingdom  serious  attention. 
Multitudes  still  there  are  who  fail  to  under- 
stand what  the  kingdom  may  mean  to  them ; 
other  multitudes  who  are  bitterly  opposed  to 
its  spread  or  even  to  its  existence.  We  pray 
for  the  kingdom,  we  must  likewise  work  for  it. 
Our  task  is  to  prepare  the  Spirit  room.  In  our 
own  lives  we  must  be  growing  in  grace  con- 
stantly. We  must  develop  the  life  we  have. 
As  for  others,  sympathizing  with  their  condi- 
tion and  their  needs,  we  must  seek  to  render 
their  hearts  receptive  of  the  Spirit's  influence ; 
we  must  deal  gently,  lovingly  with  all  men, 
seeking  to  win  them  by  the  power  of  the  life  to 
the  Source  of  life.  As  we  pray  there  is  work 
for  us  of  preparing  for  divine  creative  acts  by 
setting  the  conditions  in  order. 

The  kingdom  has  already  come  in  wonderful 
measure.  In  proportion  to  the  changes  in- 
volved, it  is  but  a  short  time  since  Jesus  was 


CREATIVE  ACTS.  101 

on  earth  in  Palestine  with  a  dozen  followers. 
A  little  room,  hardly  large  enough  for  a  modern 
desk-office,  would  have  contained  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  kingdom  then.  Jesus  had  the  won- 
derful hardihood  to  leave  that  company,  a  little 
handful,  to  leaven  the  whole  world.  But  see 
the  results  !  How  that  leaven  has  spread  !  Not 
to  mention  the  innumerable  hosts  in  the  king- 
dom invisible,  look  here  on  earth  now :  every 
continent  possessed  in  part,  and  in  large  part, 
by  the  kingdom  ;  almost  every  nation  having  cit- 
izens of  that  kingdom  by  the  thousand  and  the 
million.  And  beyond  the  mere  multiplication 
of  numbers,  see  how  the  kingdom  has  spread 
through  its  quiet  influences ;  scarcely  a  man 
breathes  to-day,  however  bitterly  he  may  oppose 
the  kingdom,  however  little  he  may  think  him- 
self concerned  in  it,  who  is  not  in  some  way 
indebted  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  a  recipient  of 
its  benefits.  Our  governments,  our  institutions, 
our  trade,  commerce,  travel,  literature,  art,  archi- 
tecture, industries,  all  receive  some  benefit  from 
the  kingdom.  The  kingdom  has  come,  how 
largely !  Not  alone  is  every  church  a  memorial 
of  its  presence,  but  every  hospital,  every  asylum, 
every  school,  every  printing  press.  Men  may 
cry,  "Lo,  here"  and  "Lo,  there,"  but  the  king- 
dom comes  apace.  With  hopeful  hearts  its 
members  need  but  to  be  true  to  the  life,  giving 


102  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

the  Spirit  free  scope,  that  the  mighty  work  of 
God  may  progress,  and  his  kingdom  may  still 
further  and  more  speedily  come.  They  must, 
however,  have  a  clear  conception  of  what  the 
life  really  is,  and  must  let  it  become  manifest  in 
the  simple,  practical  relations  of  human  society. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RULES   FOR   THE   LIFE    WITHOUT    RULES. 

The  spiritual  life  has  been  strangely  con- 
ceived of.  In  the  second  century  after  Christ 
the  Christian  doctors  began  to  maintain  that 
Christ  had  prescribed  a  twofold  rule  of  holiness 
and  virtue ;  the  one  ordinary,  the  other  extraor- 
dinary ;  the  one  lower,  the  other  higher ;  the 
one  for  men  of  business,  the  other  for  persons 
of  leisure,  and  such  as  desire  greater  glory  in 
the  future  world.  They,  therefore,  divided  the 
requirements  of  Christ  for  life  and  morals  into 
"  precepts  "  and  "  counsels."  By  precepts  they 
meant  the  laws  which  were  universally  obliga- 
tory and  had  been  enacted  for  men  of  all  de- 
scriptions on  the  lower  plane  ;  by  the  counsels 
they  indicated  the  rules  which  pertained,  as 
they  thought,  solely  to  such  as  were  called,  or 
aspired,  to  superior  holiness  and  a  closer  walk 
with  God. 

From  these  distinctions  sprang  in  the  course 
of  time  the  whole  system  of  monasteries  and 
convents,  with  their  "vows"  and  "rules,"  under 
103 


104  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

which  an  isolated,  unworldly  life  thought  to  be 
spiritual,  became  formal  and  lifeless,  its  chief 
merit  being  that  it  fortunately  was  a  life  possible 
for  the  few  only.  According  to  this  standard, 
the  more  spiritual  one  became  the  less  suited 
was  he  to  live  among  his  fellows.  He  was  taken 
from  his  regular  labor,  from  his  usual  haunts, 
from  his  home  and  loved  ones.  Marriage  was 
deemed  a  sin,  the  getting  of  gain  unlawful,  and 
the  possession  of  property  forbidden.  The 
more  of  spiritual  life  a  man  obtained  the  less 
of  social  life  must  he  have ;  and  at  length  it 
became  obvious  that  the  less  of  mental  and  physi- 
cal life  also  could  he  enjoy ;  for  he  was  obliged 
to  forego  pleasure,  to  restrain  the  imagination,  to 
curb  poetic  fancies,  if  he  had  them,  and  to  deny 
his  independency  of  judgment ;  and  through  fast- 
ings and  vigils,  by  flagellations  and  pains,  he 
reduced  to  its  utmost  tenuity  what  little  life  of 
the  body  his  cell  had  left  him.  The  flesh  was 
supposed  to  be  the  seat  of  sin  and  it  must  be 
crucified.  Whatever  was  natural  was  looked 
upon  as  unspiritual. 

What  a  travesty  of  Christ's  example  was  this ! 

But  a  recent  view,  much  proclaimed  in  some 
sections  to-day,  is  hardly  less  erroneous.  It 
makes  spirituality  to  consist  of  emotional  ex- 
citement. The  soberness  and  gloom  of  the 
monastery  it  puts  far  away,  and  likewise  the 


RULES  FOR   THE  LIFE   WITHOUT  RULES.     105 

isolation,  for  its  greatest  argument  is  to  be 
found  in  the  contagious  ecstasies  of  the  prayer- 
meeting,  the  songs  and  shouts  and  hallelujahs 
of  religious  enthusiasm.  This  conception  rele- 
gates to  the  second  grade  all  those  who  possess 
a  calm,  perchance  a  slightly  melancholy  dispo- 
sition, to  whom  life  seems  serious,  who  move 
sedately  and  think  soberly  and  are  as  little 
inclined  to  hallelujahs  as  to  Hebrew.  This 
view  of  the  spiritual  life  fails  to  recognize  that 
there  are  times  in  an  individual's  experience 
when,  instead  of  experiencing  rapture  on  the 
mountain  top,  he  must  walk  through  the  valley, 
shut  in,  cramped,  depressed ;  it  seems  to  declare 
that  all  experience  under  a  cloud  and  in  trial 
must  be  regarded  as  inferior  in  religious  value 
to  those  which  are  happier,  as  though  tears 
could  never  be  in  place,  and  as  though,  when 
God  led  one  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  there  were  no  rod  and  no  staff  upon 
which  to  lean  for  comfort  and  help. 

But  yet  another  definition  of  spirituality  has 
thrust  itself  upon  popular  attention.  It  is  this : 
that,  while  the  term  morality  indicates  a  recog- 
nition of  ethical  values  in  relation  to  this  present 
life,  spirituality  indicates  a  recognition  of  ethi- 
cal values  in  relations  to  the  future  life.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  spiritual  man  is  a  man  of  expec- 
tancy, hope,  anticipation  ;  he  lives  not  for  this 


106  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

life,  but  for  the  life  to  come  ;  heaven  is  his 
home,  this  is  but  a  brief  abiding-place ;  he 
longs  for  to-morrow,  has  little  or  no  satisfaction 
in  to-day.  This  view  makes  the  spiritual  life 
a  life  deferred. 

Neither  of  these  views  accords  with  the  teach- 
ing and  example  of  Jesus.  He  went  amongst 
men;  he  was  not  an  ascetic.  He  brought  glad- 
ness and  cheer ;  he  participated  in  the  joys  of 
men.  Yet  he  himself  wept;  he  was  "a  man 
of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  griefs."  He 
plainly  declared  that  the  life  he  gave  began  in 
this  life:  "He  that  believeth  hath  everlasting 
life." 

What,  then,  is  the  spiritual  life  ?  Can  any 
rules  be  laid  down  for  it  ? 

One  very  plain  definition  of  the  life  which 
Jesus  desired  is  involved  in  his  words,  "He 
that  hath  my  commandments  and  keepeth  them, 
he  it  is  that  loveth  me."  To  know  the  will  of 
Christ  and  to  do  it,  that  is  to  show  love  to  him, 
that  is  to  be  in  fellowship  with  him  and  to 
partake  of  his  life.  The  calm,  the  serious,  the 
sober  may  be  as  spiritual  as  the  active,  the  viva- 
cious, the  joyous.  The  heavy-laden,  the  sore 
oppressed,  the  sadly  afflicted  may  be  as  truly 
pleasing  to  God  and  in  as  intimate  communion 
with  him  as  the  easy-going,  light-hearted,  sing- 
ing Christian.     Indeed,  in  the  darkest  hour  of 


RULES  FOR   THE  LIFE  WITHOUT  RULES.    107 

midnight  the  disciple  is  as  near  the  divine  sup- 
port as  in  the  brightest  glare  of  noonday.  This 
the  Master  teaches. 

True  discipleship  is  spirituality.  Knowledge 
and  obedience  are  its  plainest  tests.  To  have 
Christ's  commandments  and  to  keep  them,  that 
is  proof  of  devotion ;  to  know  his  will  and  to  do 
it,  that  is  to  become  like-minded  with  him.  It 
cannot  be  proved  that  Jesus  ever  laughed  or 
shouted  or  sang.  But  it  is  known  that  he 
shed  tears  and  was  in  anguish  and  distress ;  he 
sweat  bloody  drops  ;  he  prayed  in  lonely  mid- 
night hours  ;  he  was  heartbroken.  And  yet 
there  is  no  evidence  whatever  that  he  ever 
condemned  or  reproved  the  play  or  display  of 
emotion.  The  prattle  and  the  mirth  of  chil- 
dren he  would  not  rebuke.  Their  mock  wed- 
dings and  dances,  their  made-up  funerals  and 
sorrows  he  took  notice  of  and  used  as  illustra- 
tions in  his  discourses.  He  participated  in  the 
quiet  joys  of  the  home  life  of  his  friends,  and 
entered  into  the  generous  festivities  of  the 
marriage  feast.  All  this  time  he  was  true  to 
the  life  within  him ;  he  was  setting  the  exam- 
ple for  men  of  all  succeeding  centuries.  What 
better  precedent  can  we  find,  though  we  search 
all  records  through  ? 

In  all  this  variety  of  experience  in  the  envi- 
ronment of  the  ordinary  life  of   his  day,  the 


108  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

principle  of  Jesus  lay  in  his  words,  "  My  meat 
is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to 
accomplish  his  work,"  and,  "  I  must  work  while 
it  is  day."  His  life  was  one  of  devotion  to  the 
will  of  the  Father.  To  know  and  to  do  God's 
will  was  the  one  object  of  his  solicitude. 

Intellect  and  will  enter  into  spirituality  more 
than  do  emotions.  Duty  brings  one  nearer  to 
God  than  does  feeling.  Whether  one  feels  like 
a  task  or  not,  the  only  question  for  a  conscien- 
tious soul  is,  What  is  the  divine  wish  ?  When 
that  wish  is  known  and  heeded,  then  joy  or 
sorrow  may  come,  the  disciple  has  nothing  to 
fear,  for  he  and  his  acts  are  in  the  keeping  of 
the  Almighty.  That  is  the  consolation  for  the 
Christian. 

It  is  not,  however,  a  small  thing  to  have  the 
commandments  of  Christ.  Even  to  have  the 
choicest  of  them  treasured  up  in  memory  is  not 
to  possess  them  as  the  Lord  means.  But  to 
have  his  commandments  in  the  Biblical  sense  is 
to  understand  them;  to  know  the  will  of  God 
is  to  enter  into  an  appreciation  of  the  spirit  of 
Christ ;  and  this  is  not  so  easy  as  it  may  seem 
at  first.  It  requires  study  and  involves  growth. 
One  cannot  solve  the  mysteries  of  God's  great 
revelation  all  at  once  ;  one  must  be  humble,  and 
patient,  and  plodding.  The  highest  spiritual 
state  is  attained  when  one  has  lived  long  in  the 


RULES  FOR    THE  LIFE   WITHOUT  RULES.     109 

divine  service,  ever  adding  a  little  to  knowledge, 
ever  learning  more ;  and  this,  doubtless,  re- 
quires long  years  for  its  consummation.  Yet 
one  can  always  know  enough  of  the  divine  pur- 
pose to  fulfill  the  demands  of  a  day,  and  may 
possess  a  sufficiency  of  the  mind  of  Christ  to 
come  into  close  accord  with  the  loving  heart  of 
God.  However  far  into  the  future  the  vistas 
of  possibility  may  extend,  enough  is  intelligible 
at  any  one  time  for  the  knowledge,  the  duty, 
the  service,  and  the  experience  of  the  hour. 

To  know  fully  the  will  of  God  requires  a 
knowledge  of  all  his  revelation ;  and  how  vari- 
ously has  that  revelation  been  given  to  man ! 
It  is  in  the  Bible,  and  in  all  his  works,  —  in  all 
his  laws,  in  all  his  creatures.  Nature  and  man 
and  history  reveal  the  mind  of  God.  In  them 
are  operative  his  laws,  expressive  of  his  will. 
To  learn  any  law  of  the  universe  is  to  learn  just 
so  much  of  the  divine  mind.  Physiology  and 
psychology,  geology  and  astronomy,  botany  and 
zoology,  anthropology  and  sociology  disclose  the 
mind  of  God,  wherever  they  set  forth  proven 
law.  Science,  enlarging  the  mental  horizon, 
may  prepare  the  soul  for  spiritual  vision.  The 
school  and  college  may  fit  the  pupil  for  heaven. 
May,  that  is  all  that  can  be  said ;  it  is  possible, 
no  more  can  be  affirmed.  The  well-trained,  the 
well-stored  mind,  as  it  has  an  increased  circle  of 


110  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

knowledge  for  contact  with  the  infinite,  may 
thereby  participate  in  a  closer  fellowship  with 
the  divine. 

But  simply  to  know  the  will  of  God  is  not  to 
commune  with  him  ;  having  the  commandments 
of  Christ  does  not  of  itself  assure  likeness  to 
him.  One  must  do  that  will  and  keep  those 
commandments.  Obedience  is  the  second  great 
requisite,  but  not  second  in  importance.  A 
submissive  will  is  as  necessary  as  an  apprehend- 
ing mind.  Indeed,  God  has  revealed  himself  as 
willing  to  suffer  an  ignorant  mind,  to  condone 
lack  of  knowledge,  to  hold  no  one  responsible 
for  what  he  does  not  know ;  but  God  has  given 
no  intimation  that  he  ever  overlooks  a  rebellious 
will,  or  treats  leniently  a  stubborn  disposition, 
or  thinks  lightly  of  disobedience.  When  the 
mind  has  once  apprehended  a  law  of  God,  then 
the  will  must  conform  to  it ;  when  divine  pur- 
poses and  plans  are  intellectually  discerned, 
then  in  that  direction  must  volition  flow  and 
action  follow;  "He  that  hath  my  command- 
ments and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth 
me ; "  "  If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  command- 
ments." Keeping  the  commandments  is  the 
supreme  test.  Obedience  really  overleaps  all 
other  marks  of  discipleship.  Submission  of  will 
is  the  greatest  evidence  of  spirituality,  as  indeed 
it  is  the  chiefest  condition  for  its  perfection. 


RULES  FOR   THE  LIFE  WITHOUT  RULES.     Ill 

Here  is  the  point  of  difficulty  in  most  men's 
lives.  Here  they  rebel ;  they  will  not  obey. 
Of  knowledge  they  have  a  sufficiency ;  but  they 
will  not  yield  to  what  they  know.  The  stub- 
born will  keeps  them  back.  It  shuts  some 
men  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God  altogether ; 
others,  who  have  yielded  sufficiently  to  have 
come  within  the  kingdom,  draw  arbitrary  lines 
in  dealing  with  God  ;  in  some  things  they  will 
obey,  in  other  things  they  will  not ;  a  part 
of  the  time  they  will  serve  God  faithfully,  a 
part  of  the  time  they  will  not ;  some  sacrifices 
for  God  they  readily  make,  others  they  will 
not ;  and  so  they  mark  off  their  lives  into 
segments  of  willingness  and  unwillingness,  of 
obedience  and  disobedience,  of  tenderness  and 
devotion,  of  stubbornness  and  contumacy. 
Such  men  cannot  grow  in  grace. 

Oh,  this  stubborn  will  !  this  selfish  will !  this 
it  is  that  accounts  for  an  unspiritual  church, 
for  half-hearted  Christians,  for  a  drag  at  the 
wheels  of  Gospel  progress.  This  stubborn 
will !  Can  it  not  grow  tender  ?  Can  it  not  yield 
completely  ?  Will  it  not  obey  in  all  things  and 
at  all  times  and  to  all  lengths  ?  That  would  be 
a  surrender  indeed ;  that  would  be  genuine  con- 
secration ;  that  would  lead  to  true  sanctification. 

But  spirituality  is  not  mere  goodness.  A 
great  truth,  which  is  an  old  truth  revised,  has 


112  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

recently  dawned  upon  the  Christian  world  to 
prevent  the  shrivelling  of  the  spiritual  life  into 
simple  morality.  It  is  the  doctrine  to  which 
theologians  give  the  name,  the  immanence  of 
God ;  it  is  essentially  the  old  doctrine  of  the 
omnipresence  of  God.  Under  the  old  view,  how- 
ever, by  some  fatal  inconsistency,  the  Christian 
who  believed  that  God  was  everywhere  present, 
straightway  thought  of  him  as  somehow  afar  off 
in  the  heavens,  or  elsewhere  out  of  reach,  and  to 
be  brought  near  only  by  the  circumlocution  of 
unreal,  formal  appeals  or  unusual,  extraordi- 
nary propitiations.  According  to  the  new  view 
God  is  recognized  as  ever  present,  in  all  nature, 
everywhere.  The  winds  blow,  the  stars  and 
planets  move  in  their  orbits  because  of  him. 
All  natural  objects  express  his  will ;  the  tree, 
the  flower,  and  the  fruit  assume  their  mul- 
titudinous forms  because  of  his  wisdom  and  his 
very  presence.  It  is  a  recognition  of  the  truth 
of  Paul's  utterance  made  long  ago  at  Athens  : 
"God  is  not  far  from  any  one  of  us  ;  in  him  we 
live  and  move  and  have  our  being."  He  is  our 
very  life.  It  is  not  necessary  to  stretch  forth 
the  hand  to  find  him,  still  less  to  cry  aloud 
and  batter  at  heaven's  door  as  though  he  were 
on  a  journey,  or  were  sleeping.  God  makes  his 
temple  in  man,  dwelling  in  all  the  members 
and  parts  both  of  the  individual  and  the  social 


RULES  FOR   THE  LIFE   WITHOUT  RULES.     113 

organism.  He  notes  the  tiniest  sparrow  that 
falls  to  the  ground ;  in  his  knowlege  the  very 
hairs  of  our  heads  are  enumerated  ;  he  is  con- 
cerned in  everything  we  do ;  no  affair  of  ours, 
however  trivial  to  us,  is  beneath  his  notice  ;  he 
is  interested  in  everything  that  in  any  meas- 
ure interests  or  affects  mankind  or  his  own 
broad  creation. 

This  old  truth,  newly  conceived  of,  newly 
realized  and  emphasized,  is  of  vast  importance. 
According  to  it  we  see  that  God  does  not 
reach  down,  as  the  naturalists  and  deists  have 
claimed,  out  of  some  high  and  distant  heaven, 
to  touch  nature  occasionally,  creating  some- 
thing or  rectifying  something ;  but  he  is  always 
in  nature,  always  preserving,  controlling,  regu- 
lating ;  without  him  nature  could  not  exist. 
We  see  that  God  does  not  specially  draw  near 
his  people,  when  they  have  pacified  him  and 
strenuously  invoked  him,  but  he  is  always  near 
them,  always  trying  to  reveal  himself,  always 
seeking  to  make  his  children  think  of  him  and 
realize  his  presence  and  help. 

Those  who  have  caught  this  new,  larger  view 
of  God's  presence,  are  making  less  distinction 
between  things  sacred  and  things  secular,  for 
everything  they  regard  as  holy  in  its  place  and 
in  its  way.  Monday  is  a  holy  day  for  Monday ; 
and  Saturday  for  Saturday  is  just  as  holy  as 


114  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

Sunday  for  Sunday.  One  God  made  all  the 
days  of  the  week  and  has  fitted  them  each  for 
its  purpose.  Business  is  a  holy  occupation  at 
its  time  and  in  its  place,  if  carried  on  uprightly  ; 
and  so  school,  and  home,  and  pleasure,  and 
work  are  all  hallowed,  all  made  holy  by  the 
presence  of  God.  We  can  be  spiritual  in  all 
these  places,  at  all  these  tasks,  —  indeed  in  any- 
thing and  everything  that  ought  to  be,  because 
God  wills  it. 

God's  manner  of  communicating  with  men 
becomes  better  understood  when  one  realizes 
the  divine  immanence.  He  spoke  to  prophets 
and  apostles  of  old ;  but  he  is  no  less  near  to 
the  disciples  of  to-day,  and  has  no  less  love  for 
man  and  proffers  no  less  of  truth.  Of  the  ele- 
ments in  inspiration,  the  divine  approach  and 
the  divine  message  are  constant ;  human  need, 
the  preparation  of  the  human  medium,  and  the 
occasion  vary.  But  individual  need  is  as  great 
to-day  as  ever ;  and  the  preparation  of  individ- 
ual minds  and  hearts,  after  centuries  of  Chris- 
tian development,  is  superior  to  that  in  the 
times  of  the  apostles  and  the  prophets.  Is 
inspiration,  therefore,  a  charisma  of  bygone 
days  ?  Is  the  book  closed  ?  the  communication 
cut  off  ? 

To  preachers  all  denominations  recognize  a 
divine    communication,   at    least    once.      The 


RULES  FOR   THE  LIFE   WITHOUT  RULES.    115 

preacher  must  be  "  called "  to  preach ;  and  ex- 
amining councils  catechise  him  strictly  as  to 
the  character  and  validity  of  the  "  call."  This 
is  but  an  inquiry  into  the  degree  of  inspiration 
which  he  has  already  received,  fitting  him  for 
the  discharge  of  his  mission.  By  providential 
signs  and  by  internal  convictions  he  can  test 
that  inspiration.  But  is  inspiration  thereafter 
to  be  denied  him  ?  Does  God  depart  from  him 
thenceforth  forever  ?  Has  the  minister  of  the 
Gospel  need  of  communications  from  the  Spirit 
only  when  he  is  deciding  upon  his  profession, 
and  when  he  stands  before  the  examining  board 
in  the  hour  of  his  ordination  ?  How  about  the 
selection  of  a  text,  and  the  preparation  of  a  ser- 
mon, and  the  presentation  of  a  message  ?  How 
about  daily  ministrations  to  needy  souls,  and 
constant  living  in  the  divine  presence  ?  One 
answer  only  can  be  given  to  these  inquiries  :  if 
God  be  with  his  servant  at  all,  then  divine  com- 
munications and  a  divine  inspiration  are  possi- 
ble for  each  day  and  each  hour. 

But  every  disciple  has  a  "call,"  as  well  as 
the  minister.  If  the  Christian  blacksmith  has 
not  a  "call"  to  blacksmithing,  he  should  leave 
his  anvil,  and  go  whither  God  does  call  him,  as 
a  Christian.  The  Christian  merchant,  the 
Christian  lawyer,  the  Christian  physician,  if 
truly  Christian,  must  be  obedient  to  the  divine 


116  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

will,  and  must  yield  to  that  will  in  choosing 
and  in  pursuing  a  vocation.  Infinite  wisdom 
can  individualize.  The  divine  voice  may  come 
in  multitudinous  forms  and  accents,  and  with 
manifold  injunctions.  God  may  inspire  the 
housekeeper  in  her  work,  the  mother  with  her 
cares,  the  bricklayer,  the  civil  engineer,  the 
teacher,  the  clerk  in  whatever  line  of  business, 
—  every  toiler,  however  humble  or  however 
great  his  daily  toil. 

If  God  be  near,  must  he  be  dumb  ?  Cannot 
he  speak  to  his  own  children  ?  Indeed,  the 
really  pertinent  question  is,  Do  the  children 
hear  ? 

With  a  knowledge  of  divine  laws,  with  sub- 
mission to  the  divine  will,  and  a  recognition  of 
the  divine  presence,  growth  in  the  higher  life 
will  surely  ensue.  Nothing  remains  absolutely 
stationary.  Spirituality  means  an  unfolding 
life.  The  very  idea  of  God  involves  a  concep- 
tion of  change,  improvement,  enlargement,  life, 
growth.  The  infinite  energy  is  not  power  at  a 
standstill,  but  power  in  operation.  God  is  ever 
bringing  something  better  to  pass. 

A  conservatism  which  does  not  change  signi- 
fies death.  The  church,  or  the  individual,  that 
is  satisfied  with  present  attainments  and  present 
visions  may  well  nigh  be  termed  dead,  certainly 
is  not  a  spiritual  church  or  a  spiritual  individ- 


RULES  FOR    THE  LIFE   WITHOUT  RULES.    117 

ual.  The  conservatism  of  holding  fast  that 
which  is  good  must  be  retained.  Certainly  we 
are  to  be  careful  and  cautious,  by  always  trying 
the  spirits,  lest  we  be  led  astray  into  vagary 
and  error ;  yet  never  are  we  to  remain  motion- 
less and  become  petrified,  never  be  but  the 
reminiscence  of  a  past  virtue,  and  the  memory 
of  a  former  life.  We  are  to  live,  to  live  in  the 
present,  to  live  in  the  future,  always  to  grow. 

Good  habits,  if  they  lead  to  nothing  better 
than  themselves,  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  bad 
as  bad  habits.  As  soon  as  a  virtue  has  become 
so  habitual  as  to  be  a  part  of  us  without  effort 
and  without  thought,  then  its  special  merit  as  a 
virtue  ceases ;  it  is  now  routine,  and  for  spirit- 
ual value  its  worth  consists  in  its  serving  only 
as  the  base  of  operations  for  reaching  out  to- 
ward the  acquisition  of  a  new  virtue  and  the 
formation  of  a  new  habit.  If  we  but  remain 
in  the  exercise  of  old  habits,  however  good  they 
may  be,  we  continue  in  the  operation  of  virtues 
which  have  become  automatic  and  mechanical ; 
they  occur  on  purely  physical  grounds,  because 
our  nerve  fibers  and  brain  cells  have  taken  cer- 
tain definite  forms,  and  act  from  self-excitation, 
without  conscious  thought  or  volitional  effort. 

He  who  does  a  thing  without  thinking  is 
not  engaged  in  a  spiritual  act;  he  who  acts 
without  a  conscious  volitional  effort  is  not  liv- 


118  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

ing  a  spiritual  life.  Such  an  one  may  live  a 
moral  life  ;  he  may  be  virtuous,  true,  honorable, 
and  useful  in  society,  a  man  upon  whom  neigh- 
bors and  friends  may  rely ;  but  he  is  not  truly 
spiritual.  Spirituality  requires  growth.  All  that 
is  stored  away  in  the  sub-conscious  depths  of 
our  being  should  furnish  foundation  and  basis 
for  our  future  character-building,  but  should 
not  prove  the  conclusion  of  our  acquisitions ;  for 
conscious  functions  alone  are  spiritual.  They 
who  are  moral  have  greater  possibilities  of  spir- 
itual attainment  than  they  who  must  first  con- 
tend with  positive  wickedness  of  heart  and  with 
vicious  habits.  But  it  certainly  is  true  that  a 
man  in  the  gutter,  who,  with  all  the  strength  of 
his  being,  is  struggling  to  overcome  a  depraved 
appetite,  may  be  really  a  more  spiritual  man 
than  he  who,  perhaps  in  the  innermost  councils 
of  the  church,  wraps  himself  in  a  kind  of  Phari- 
saic garb  of  self-righteousness  and  congratu- 
lates himself  that  he  is  not  as  the  other  man 
is ;  for  the  latter  moves  along  in  the  even,  blame- 
less tenor  of  his  way,  making  no  gains,  enlarging 
no  spiritual  boundaries,  simply  living  a  good  life 
as  a  matter  of  habit. 

Goodness  should  never  be  disparaged.  It 
merits  the  apprenticeship  of  a  lifetime.  The 
world  rightly  aims  at  and  strives  for  goodness. 
But  when  the  Christian  has  attained  even  the 


RULES  FOR   THE  LIFE  WITHOUT  RULES.    119 

largest  virtue,  then  he  should  reach  up  and  ob- 
tain yet  other  unappropriated  goodness.  Jesus 
Christ  has  set  the  standard ;  the  saint  purest 
grown  may  grow  yet  more  :  "  Be  ye  therefore 
perfect,  even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  per- 
fect."    To  be  spiritual  one  must  be  growing. 

The  spiritual  life  becomes  at  length,  also,  if 
not  at  first,  a  life  of  love.  Love  springs  up 
spontaneously  sometimes,  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  hidden,  almost  mysterious  affinities. 
Sometimes  it  results  from  a  calm,  intellectual 
appreciation  of  the  excellences  of  the  object  be- 
loved. At  other  times  it  grows,  by  slow  process, 
out  of  an  arrested  attention,  to  an  enkindled 
interest,  then  a  dawning  sympathy,  at  length 
real  solicitude,  and  so,  by  stages,  becomes  itself, 
love.  To  this  latter  process,  service  is  the 
main  avenue  of  approach.  Continued  service 
to  a  person  leads  almost  invariably  to  love  for 
the  person.  Many  of  us  have  felt  obliged  at 
times,  from  a  sheer  sense  of  duty,  to  render  a 
service  to  persons,  unlovely,  if  not  indeed  pos- 
itively distasteful  to  us  at  first ;  and  yet,  how 
often,  as  the  service  has  proceeded,  has  dislike 
yielded  to  interest,  and  then  to  sympathy,  and  at 
length  to  love  !  There  are  mothers  and  fathers 
who  have  entertained  no  glad  anticipations  of 
the  coming  of  a  little  stranger  to  the  family, 
who,  nevertheless,  after  its  arrival,  have  found 


120  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

the  pain,  the  suffering,  the  service  and  sacri- 
fice for  the  baby's  multitudinous  little  wants 
the  very  means  of  calling  forth  love,  deep  and 
strong  and  patient. 

The  spiritual  life  is  a  life  of  love.  Love 
begins  with  acquaintance  and  knowledge ;  it 
deepens  through  fellowship  and  communion  ; 
it  expands,  as,  by  slow  transition,  it  takes  on 
one  by  one  the  characteristics  of  the  object 
beloved,  and  grows  into  the  same  likeness. 
The  possessor  of  this  life,  amid  all  vicissitudes 
and  trials,  experiences  nevertheless  a  content- 
ment and  peace  surpassing  any  explanation 
springing  out  of  his  circumstances.  This  we 
must  next  consider. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TRANSCENDENT   REPOSE. 

The  significance  of  the  sayings  of  Jesus 
often  lies  as  much  in  the  circumstances  under 
which  they  were  spoken  as  in  the  words  them- 
selves. A  case  in  instance  is  involved  in  his 
remarkable  assurance  of  peace  :  "  Peace  I  leave 
with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you :  not  as  the 
world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your 
heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid." 
These  words  are  spoken  on  that  memorable 
Thursday  evening  directly  preceding  the  awful 
day  of  the  crucifixion.  Within  two  or  three 
hours  Jesus  is  set  upon  in  the  Garden  of  Geth- 
semane  by  a  mob,  seized,  and  hurried  into  the 
presence  of  his  judges.  Before  another  day  has 
fully  dawned  he  has  been  brought  before  the 
ex-high  priest  Annas,  and  the  high  priest  Caia- 
phas,  and  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  Jews ;  next  unto 
Pilate ;  thence  transferred  to  Herod,  and  finally 
—  his  sixth  judicial  hearing  —  remanded  to 
Pilate  for  sentence.  By  Pilate,  at  the  clamor 
of  the  multitude,  he  is  condemned  to  the  cross. 
121 


122  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

Before  the  sun  has  again  reached  the  zenith, 
the  cruel  nails  have  pierced  the  quivering  flesh, 
and  the  upright  post  with  its  precious  load  has 
been  reared  aloft.  Before  another  sun  has  set, 
he,  the  light  of  the  world,  has  been  taken  from 
the  cross  and  placed  in  the  rocky  tomb.  The 
agony,  the  denial,  the  abandonment  by  friends, 
the  mockings  and  scourgings  of  enemies,  the 
pain,  the  rack,  the  supreme  crisis,  —  all  these 
dire  experiences  are  impending,  as  he  well 
knows,  and  yet  the  Master  calmly  speaks  of 
peace :  "  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I 
give  unto  you."  Within  twenty-four  hours  the 
disciples  whom  he  addresses  will  be  scattered 
abroad,  each  one  fleeing  for  his  life  lest  he  too 
suffer  death  like  the  Master. 

The  shadow  of  the  cross  gives  these  words 
their  deepest  meaning.  They  are  words  of 
peace,  when  there  seems  to  be  no  peace.  They 
soothe  and  allay  and  assure,  when  apparently 
every  ground  of  solace  and  assurance  and  quie- 
tude is  wanting.  The  utterance  and  the  occasion 
seem  at  variance.  Sentiment  and  circumstance 
seem  antagonistic.  Thought  and  environment 
have  fallen  into  a  paradox. 

From  these  words,  thus  uttered,  the  lesson 
becomes  apparent,  that  outward  condition  does 
not  afford  inward  contentment  and  satisfaction. 
Peace  is  an  experience  of  the  soul.     It  does  not 


TRANSCENDENT  REPOSE.  123 

depend  upon  an  east  wind,  or  upon  the  weather, 
though  climatic  conditions  affecting  the  bodily 
health  have  a  potent  influence  upon  spirits. 
But  peace  is  independent  of  meteorological 
changes.  Repose  is  transcendental.  It  exists 
independently  of  farming  or  business,  of  home 
and  possessions.  It  depends  upon  what  a  man 
is,  and  what  his  relation  to  the  divine  help  is. 

Seekers  after  gold  grasp  and  clutch  at  every 
glittering  grain  of  golden  treasure,  but  still  are 
anxious  and  unsatisfied.  The  rich  have  never 
found  peace  and  contentment  in  riches  alone. 
More  often  they  find  carking  cares  and  multi- 
plied perplexities.  Neither  has  the  voluptuary, 
in  all  his  round  of  diversions,  acquired  the 
joy  of  satisfying  peace.  Pleasure  may  promise 
solace,  but  it  is  a  banker  insolvent,  never  re- 
deeming its  pledges.  No  better  reward  of  peace 
does  position,  or  place,  or  power  afford.  Has 
any  one  yet  observed  that  beauty,  or  fine  gar- 
ments, or  facile  manners,  or  aristocratic  con- 
nections yield  peace  ? 

If  outward  circumstances  gave  peace,  how, 
then,  could  David  have  stood  undaunted  before 
Goliath  and  unabashed  before  Saul  ?  How 
could  Elijah  have  stood  before  Ahab  ?  How 
could  Paul  have  spoken  in  the  presence  of  Felix, 
and  Festus,  and  Agrippa,  and  appealed  unto 
Caesar  ?     Could  Stephen,  looking  steadfastly  up 


124  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

into  heaven,  have  rejoiced  at  the  vision  that  met 
his  gaze,  while  yet  they  stoned  him  ?  Would 
it,  indeed,  have  been  possible  for  the  martyrs  of 
all  the  Christian  centuries  to  have  endured  their 
pains  and  tortures,  if  peace  came  from  outward 
circumstances  ?  Would  those  hymns  have  been 
sung  in  the  Philippian  prison  by  Paul  and  Silas  ? 
Would  Martin  Luther  have  defied  the  pope  ? 
Would  he  have  translated  the  New  Testament 
quietly  on  the  Wartburg,  while  his  enemies  were 
harrying  through  the  land  like  a  pack  of  hounds 
after  the  quarry  ?  Could  he  have  thundered 
before  the  Council  of  Worms,  "  Here  stand  I : 
I  can  naught  else.  God  help  me"?  If  outward 
circumstances  determined  peace,  how  would  it 
be  with  the  great  majority  of  us  mortals,  who 
possess  little  wealth,  who  lack  position  and 
power,  who  are  uncommended  by  personal  ap- 
pearance, or  brilliant  endowments,  or  influential 
associations  ? 

But  in  the  shadow  of  the  cross  peace  abounds. 
The  words  are  addressed  to  the  disciples,  hum- 
ble fishermen,  unadorned,  untitled,  unrenowned 
and  soon  to  be  deprived  of  their  one  powerful 
friend.  It  is  surely  in  no  external  way  that 
Jesus  bestows  upon  his  followers  peace  and 
quietness.  The  world  tries  to  make  its  appor- 
tionment of  satisfaction  to  a  few  favorites,  and 
under  certain  favorable  conditions,  but  the  gifts 


TRANSCENDENT  REPOSE.  125 

of  Jesus  are  for  all  men  and  at  all  times.  Peace 
may  abound  in  the  midst  of  the  sorest  trial, 
under  the  deepest  affliction,  beneath  the  dark- 
est cloud. 

The  converse  of  this  first  lesson  is  happily 
true ;  the  peace  which  Jesus  gives,  as  it  is  not 
dependent  upon  outward  circumstance,  so  is  it 
equal  to  any  emergency,  for  it  is  not  destroyed 
by  any  external  commotion. 

Here  is  a  picture :  on  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
sails  a  ship,  storm-tossed,  having  two  hundred 
and  seventy-six  souls  on  board,  —  the  captain, 
officers,  and  crew,  military  officials  and  soldiers, 
merchants  and  pleasure-seekers ;  there  are  also 
some  prisoners,  chained  in  custody  of  the 
soldiers.  For  fourteen  days  the  frail  vessel  has 
labored  in  the  sea.  Freight  and  tackling  have 
been  thrown  overboard  to  lighten  the  ship. 
Consternation  is  depicted  on  every  face  but 
one  ;  despair  in  every  heart  but  one.  One  man, 
a  prisoner,  in  his  chains,  is  crying,  "  Be  of  good 
cheer;  eat;  abide  by  the  ship;  we  shall  all  be 
saved  ;  not  one  shall  perish."  That  one  man 
has  leaned  upon  his  God ;  in  consequence,  that 
one  man  enjoys  now  peace  and  confidence. 
That  man  is  the  Apostle  Paul  on  his  way  to 
Rome,  in  bonds,  but  his  spirit  breathes  the  free 
air.  Outward  circumstances  have  not  affected 
his  sense  of  security,  his  soul's  quiet  calm. 


126  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

Our  Master  furnished  a  yet  better  illustra- 
tion of  peace.  But  a  very  brief  time  after  his 
message  of  peace  was  bequeathed  unto  his  disci- 
ples, when  the  multitude  came  upon  him  in 
the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  he  was  the  calmest, 
most  peaceful  person  present,  though  the  most 
imperiled.  When  he  stepped  forth  from  the 
shadow  and  darkness  into  the  glare  of  their 
torches  and  calmly  said,  "Whom  seek  ye  ?  I  am 
he,"  —  affrighted,  the  soldiers  and  officers  and 
proud  ecclesiastics  who  had  come  to  arrest  him 
fell  on  their  faces  to  the  ground.  His  Apostle 
Peter,  in  attempting  to  defend  him  by  the 
sword,  with  clumsy  agitated  stroke  aimed  at  the 
neck,  smote  a  man's  ear.  It  was  a  frightened 
concourse  on  either  side.  He  alone  remained 
calm.  The  disciples,  though  three  years  already 
under  his  tuition,  had  not  yet  learned  the  lessons 
of  a  spiritual  kingdom  and  of  spiritual  conquests. 
They  knew  almost  as  little  of  him  whom  they 
revered  as  did  those  who  hated  Jesus.  In 
alarm  for  their  own  lives  they  soon  fled.  The 
Master  taken,  they  could  think  only  of  death, 
and  an  end  to  all  their  ardent  expectations  for 
Israel,  an  end  to  all  their  earnest  endeavors  and 
hearty  sacrifices  for  the  Master's  sake.  The 
lessons  of  spiritual  truth,  though  ever  so  well 
taught,  had  not  been  well  learned  by  the  dis- 
ciples.    But  no  fear  ruffled  the  Master's  peace- 


TRANSCENDENT  REPOSE.  127 

ful  repose.  He  had  fought  out  the  battle  in 
his  own  soul :  "  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me  :  nevertheless  not  as 
I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt."  He  evinced  a  peace- 
fulness  not  affected  by  circumstance. 

But  the  triumphs  of  peace  are  visible  in  the 
lives  of  Christian  disciples  to-day.  Every 
pastor  in  the  round  of  his  ministrations  of 
comfort  and  consolation  enters  homes  from 
which  he  carries  more  than  he  can  by  any 
means  convey  thither :  homes  that  ever  stand 
out  distinctly  in  his  thought ;  homes  in  which 
murmurings  have  been  stayed,  in  which  rebel- 
lion has  been  quelled,  in  which  undisturbed 
peace  reigns.  The  benediction  of  such  homes 
spreads  throughout  an  entire  community.  In 
spite  of  circumstances,  yea,  by  the  very  adver- 
sity of  the  lot,  the  triumphs  of  peace  become 
the  more  complete. 

There  are  saints  in  every  community,  with 
their  greater  opportunities,  more  saintly  to-day 
than  the  Christians  of  Corinth  who  were  called 
saints  by  the  Apostle  Paul.  Every  church  could 
furnish  a  quota.  Not  that  men  and  women  of 
this  age  or  of  any  age  have  attained  unto  final 
perfection,  but  they  have  so  grown  in  grace  as 
to  make  the  contrast  between  what  now  is  and 
what  might  have  been  almost  stupendous.  By 
the  victories  achieved,  by  the  steadiness  and 


128  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

patience  with  which  they  endure  trial,  by  their 
bearing  of  burdens,  by  the  fortitude  and  con- 
fidence wrought  into  life,  by  the  fine  fiber 
fashioned  into  the  texture  of  sterling  Christian 
character  are  we  to  judge. 

There  is  a  peace  that  can  endure  unruffled 
the  loss  of  property,  the  asperities  of  enemies, 
the  desertion  of  friends.  There  is  a  peace 
which,  despite  calumnies  and  misrepresenta- 
tions, despite  scorn  and  ridicule,  can  still  retain 
its  calm  and  keep  its  sweetness.  There  is  a 
peace  which  can  survive  the  blasting  of  fond 
hopes  and  the  miscarriage  of  cherished  plans. 
Such  peace  issues  from  a  divine  source.  It 
partakes  of  the  mighty  pronouns  of  the  utter- 
ance, "  Peace  /  leave  with  you,  my  peace  /  give 
unto  you.  Not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  /  unto 
you."     That  is  more  than  a  human  peace. 

Not  long  ago  the  Church  thought  of  herself 
as  having  but  one  message.  She  exhorted 
men,  "  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  She  pleaded 
with  them,  "  Repent  of  your  sins  ;  obey  the 
Lord  ;  be  at  peace  with  him."  Eager  to  afford 
the  ministrations  that  might  in  any  measure 
aid  in  reconciling  or  shriving  the  soul,  her  ser- 
vants stood  with  anxious  solicitude  beside  the 
bed  of  the  dying,  whispering,  "  Has  he  yet 
made  his  peace  with  God?"  At  length  the 
Church  has  seen  also  that  her  mission  presents 


TRANSCENDENT  REPOSE.  129 

a  broader  aspect.  Jesus  declared  the  first  great 
commandment  to  be  to  love  God  supremely, 
but  he  also  said,  "The  second  is  like  unto  it, 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself ; "  that 
is,  thou  shalt  be  reconciled  to  thy  neighbor  in 
all  his  ways  and  all  his  interests,  and  shalt 
promote  the  conditions  of  peace  between  thy- 
self and  thy  neighbor ;  as  thy  devotion  extends 
upward  toward  God,  so  must  it  also  extend  out- 
ward amongst  men.  This  is  the  declaration  that 
religion  must  be  cubical,  of  solid  content ;  it 
must  not  only  have  elevation,  but  also  exten- 
sion ;  it  must  be  not  aspiring  only,  but  also 
toiling ;  while  ideal,  it  must  also  be  practical ; 
not  a  religion  of  faith  only,  but  a  religion  of 
works  as  well ;  not  only  fitting  for  heaven,  but 
equally  fitting  for  earth ;  a  religion  not  alone 
to  die  by,  but  to  live  by,  daily  and  hourly,  from 
youth  to  old  age.  The  hope  of  Christianity  is 
not  alone  for  the  hereafter,  but  it  also  embraces 
the  earth.  Christianity  is  adapted  to  all  life ; 
it  molds  all  life ;  it  purifies  all  life ;  it  redeems 
and  sanctifies  all  life.  With  it  nothing  is  com- 
mon or  unclean.  What  it  has  touched  becomes 
straightway  holy.  The  lowliest  task  can  be 
glorified  by  the  Christian  :  "  Whatsoever  ye  do, 
whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God."  That  is  the  new,  broader  spirit  of  preach- 
ing and  service  that  is  now  actuating  the  church. 


130  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

But  it  needs  to  be  made  plain  and  to  be  em- 
phasized that  this  new  spirit  is  not  a  substitu- 
tion for  the  old.  It  is  an  addition.  It  displaces 
nothing.  It  simply  enlarges.  It  does  not  claim 
that  philanthropy  is  religion,  that  good  works 
are  sufficient,  that  this  life  is  all.  It  simply 
emphasizes  the  love  of  man,  the  necessity  of 
good  deeds,  and  the  importance  of  holy  living 
in  this  life.  Without  the  old  message  of  love 
toward  God,  the  new  message  of  love  toward 
man  is  idle  and  meaningless,  for  it  loses  its 
motive  and  becomes  but  a  sentiment.  Peace 
amongst  men,  if  alone,  is  superficial ;  it  is  vain 
unless  there  be  also  peace  with  God. 

The  church  has  been  saying,  What  is  the  use 
of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  a  man  who  is  hun- 
gry and  cold  and  shelterless?  we  must  feed  him 
and  clothe  him  and  house  him  first.  But  the 
inquiry  is  no  less  pertinent,  What  is  the  use 
of  dispensing  food  unless  the  tidings  of  salva- 
tion be  also  given  ?  Of  what  value  is  a  gar- 
ment, if  a  man's  inner  nature  be  not  touched 
and  changed  ?  Why  house  a  man,  if  we  do  not 
also  make  him  the  temple  of  something  holy  ? 
Indiscriminate  charity  will  but  multiply  improv- 
idence and  pauperism.  Sociology  as  a  science 
may  be  mere  theory,  as  an  art  it  may  be  naught 
but  sentimentalism.  Philanthropy  alone  has  no 
point  of  contact  with  the  divine ;  it  is  simply 


TRANSCENDENT  REPOSE.  131 

of  man,  for  man,  and  ends  with  man.  There 
must  be  the  ideal ;  there  must  be  the  upward 
reach  of  the  soul  by  faith  ;  there  must  be  devo- 
tion to  God,  a  reconciliation  with  him,  the  at- 
tainment of  his  approval. 

Peace  with  God,  —  has  a  man  that  ?  This 
question  is  as  pertinent  for  the  church  to  put 
to-day  as  ever.  It  is  the  supreme  question  for  a 
human  soul  to  answer.  Peace  with  God,  —  this 
is  what  imparts  to  all  life  its  true  significance ; 
this  beautifies  life  and  sanctifies  life.  This 
allays  the  pangs  of  conscience ;  this  takes  away 
the  pain  and  penalty  of  past  guilt ;  this  begins 
heaven  here  in  the  breast.  Attendance  upon 
the  services  of  a  Christian  church,  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  pay- 
ment of  honest  debts  and  the  faithful  fulfilment 
of  social  obligations,  meet  many  of  the  ethical 
requirements  of  our  day,  but  fall  far  short  of 
the  high  duty  and  privilege  involved  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus.  There  are  husbands  whose 
wives  have  satisfying  peace  in  the  fellowship 
and  communion  of  the  divine,  but  wives  cannot 
answer  this  supreme  question  for  their  hus- 
bands ;  the  men  must  answer  for  themselves. 
There  are  young  people  whose  fathers  and 
mothers  have  long  lived  in  the  peace  of  God, 
but  the  great  question  is  for  children  to  answer 
for  themselves.     It  is  an  individual  question, 


132  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

because  it  is  an  individual  matter.  It  concerns 
not  social  peace,  nor  a  general  amnesty ;  it  is 
for  the  single  soul.  This  is  the  sure  founda- 
tion for  all  other  quietness  and  calm.  Without 
this  one,  the  others  are  deceptive  and  ephemeral. 
This  abides. 

A  simple  rule,  approved  by  revelation  and 
by  experience,  can  be  given  for  the  acquirement 
of  peace:  two  things  are  necessary,  obedience 
and  trust. 

The  son  of  any  household,  while  obedient, 
has  nothing  to  fear.  His  one  sufficient  answer 
to  all  misgivings  and  all  sophistries  of  judgment, 
whether  of  himself  or  of  his  friends,  is,  "  Father 
told  me  to  do  this,"  and  then  he  may  quietly 
and  steadily  continue  his  task.  That  is  all  the 
logic  a  good  son  needs,  after  his  father  has  once 
spoken.  Alternatives  and  evasions  concern  him 
not,  neither  do  speculations  regarding  the  out- 
come or  significance  of  his  movements,  if  father 
has  bidden  it  so.  Even  if  in  the  performance 
of  his  duty  some  accident  or  mischance  befalls 
him,  still  the  conscientious  son  of  a  wise  father, 
though  filled  with  regret,  has  nothing  to  fear : 
"  Father  knows  I  meant  well,"  is  his  perfectly 
justifiable  excuse  ;  "  I  did  the  best  I  could."  Is 
God  less  reasonable  than  a  wise  earthly  parent  ? 

The  specific  act  of  obedience  varies  with 
the   individual  and  with   the   hour.     But   that 


TRANSCENDENT  REPOSE.  133 

thing  is  required  which  conscience  bids,  what- 
ever it  may  be.  Confession  of  Christ  before 
men,  baptism  and  church  membership,  recon- 
ciliation with  some  offended  neighbor  or  friend, 
the  undoing,  as  far  as  possible,  of  some  pre- 
vious wrong  act  by  restitution  and  restoration, 
the  remodeling  of  extensive  business  opera- 
tions upon  a  strictly  honest  and  honorable 
basis,  —  these  may  be  the  beginnings  for  differ- 
ent people ;  but  whatever  the  beginning,  the 
moral  act  is  the  same,  obedience  to  God  through 
fidelity  to  conscience.  Whether  it  be  to  open 
the  purse,  to  quicken  the  hand,  to  melt  the  eye 
in  sympathy,  or  simply  to  stand  fearlessly  for 
the  right,  obedience  is  necessary. 

There  is  no  ambiguity  in  the  rule,  whatever 
may  be  the  outlook.  This  is  the  rule  of  life 
that  has  always  made  life  noble.  The  martyrs 
of  old  observed  this  rule.  It  was  the  rule  of  the 
apostles.  Peter  and  John,  when  admonished 
by  the  great  Jewish  council,  the  Sanhedrim, 
to  cease  preaching,  answered  unhesitatingly, 
"Whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to 
hearken  unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge 
ye."  This  is  the  spirit  of  all  reformers.  Wick- 
liffe,  Huss,  and  Luther  set  obedience  to  God 
above  all  else.  Our  pilgrim  fathers  came  to 
these  inhospitable  shores  and  founded  these 
New  England  colonies  because  they   counted 


134  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

no  cost  of  property  or  pains  too  great  to  pay 
that  they  might  have  in  their  worship  an  op- 
portunity to  obey  God  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  their  own  conscience.  Though  storm 
and  shipwreck,  though  famine  and  destitution, 
though  tomahawk  and  firebrand  threatened 
them,  yet  they  found  a  haven  of  rest  and 
peace,  because  they  made  obedience  to  God 
supreme. 

Obedience  to  the  divine  will  makes  heroes 
of  common  men.  The  path  of  duty  leads  far 
out  beyond  the  vision  of  the  farthest  seeing 
man ;  it  takes  in  the  scope  of  infinite  purposes. 
To  obey  God  is  to  partake  of  his  wisdom,  for 
it  is  to  engage  in  his  plans.  Then  one  can 
well  trust.  The  humblest  individual  has  a  high 
and  noble  task,  though  it  be  but  extending  a 
cup  of  cold  water  to  a  thirsty  comrade,  when 
that  is  done  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God. 
The  merest  child  is  cooperating  with  plans 
such  as  fashioned  this  world  and  are  now  set- 
ting up  the  borders  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
when  he  does  some  act,  trifling  in  itself,  which 
it  is  the  wish  of  God  that  that  child  perform. 
Nothing  which  God  wills  is  insignificant.  The 
pin-points  and  the  dust-specks  of  human  des- 
tiny are  all  grand  and  holy  when  seen  in  the 
light  of  infinite  wisdom  and  love.  The  jots 
and  tittles  of  the  divine  law  are  all  great  with 


TRANSCENDENT  REPOSE.  135 

the  certainties  of  the  divine  purpose  and  the 
possibilities  of  human  peace. 

Obedience  to  God  enlists  one  in  divine  en- 
terprises, unites  one  with  divine  wisdom,  and 
brings  one  into  the  channels  of  the  operation 
of  divine  strength  and  grace.  Then  there  is 
nothing  to  fear.  "Having  done  all,  stand," 
wrote  the  Apostle  Paul.  Having  obeyed  the 
Lord,  then  may  the  disciple  trust  him,  is  the 
sentiment  written  all  over  the  page  of  revela- 
tion, and  running  throughout  the  history  of 
God's  dealings  with  man.  Having  obeyed, 
there  remains  then  nothing  to  dread,  neither 
the  wrath  of  man  nor  the  displeasure  of  God. 

On  the  chamber  wall  of  his  childhood's 
home,  a  mature  man  sees  in  memory,  wherever 
he  goes,  a  motto  so  placed  by  his  mother's 
hand  that  the  eye  would  easily  see  it  when 
awakening,  —  a  motto,  not  handsome  in  itself, 
not  elegantly  framed,  but  plain  to  read  and 
very  significant  to  him  all  his  days:  do  right 
and  fear  not.  It  is  the  motto  of  the  life  of 
Christ.  That  sentiment  wrought  into  active 
life  brings  peace.  That  ennobles  the  humblest 
career.  That  dignified  the  incomparable  life  of 
the  Son  of  Man.  When  conscience  and  action 
blend  in  the  same  channel,  then  ensues  peace 
such  as  the  world  cannot  give  and  the  world 
cannot  take  away. 


136  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

"Who's  there?"  the  wind  the  casement  rattles. 
"Who  speaks?"  the  tree -tops  murmur  and  sigh. 
"Some  one  is  looking!"     Naught  the  darkness 
Is  piercing  save  God's  all-seeing  eye. 

Such  is  a  picture  of  the  disobedient,  the  dis- 
trustful, the  fearful ;  for  "  the  wicked  flee  when 
no  man  pursueth." 

But  the  obedient,  free  from  alarms,  are  at 
rest.  The  Lord  is  their  strength  and  refuge ; 
and  in  him  have  they  their  peace.  Yet  peace 
is  obtained  at  no  less  price  than  obedience,  and 
this  involves,  frequently,  struggles  and  con- 
quests before  peace  can  be  enjoyed. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND  CIRCUMSTANCE. 

All  life  calls  for  careful  discriminations ;  the 
higher  the  life,  the  finer  must  distinctions  be 
made.  The  conception  of  contentment  that 
would  befit  a  brute,  if  he  has  any  such  con- 
ception at  all,  would  not  avail  for  man  ;  and  the 
idea  of  contentment  that  a  lazy  man  might 
entertain  would  prove  wholly  inadequate  for 
an  active,  energetic  man.  Indeed,  two  Chris- 
tians might  disagree  as  to  the  propriety  of  pred- 
icating contentment  at  all  of  the  genuine 
Christian  life,  one  averring  that  contentment 
is  the  bane  of  the  church,  that  her  members 
are  too  contented,  too  well  satisfied  with  condi- 
tions as  they  are,  and  not  sufficiently  active  in 
extending  the  kingdom  of  God;  the  other  de- 
claring that  the  church  ought  always  to  be 
contented  with  the  divine  providences  which 
have  marked  out  her  lot  and  her  experiences, 
and,  without  murmurings  or  complainings,  ought 
to  plod  steadily  on  about  her  work.  The  two 
seem  to  disagree,  but  the  disagreement  is  only 
137 


138  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

in  words.  A  careful  distinction  in  meaning 
shows  that  each  would  assent  cheerfully  to  the 
divine  will,  and  feel  discontented  only  with 
human  achievements  in  accomplishing  the  di- 
vine intent.  The  Christian  should  acquiesce 
in  all  divine  purposes,  and  never  be  indifferent 
to  them  :  that  is  the  true  theory  of  content- 
ment for  him. 

In  like  manner,  unless  distinctions  are  made, 
contradictions  appear  in  the  invitations  of  Jesus. 
He  calls  the  weary  and  heavy-laden  to  him  for 
rest,  and  yet  declares  that  no  man  who  fails  to 
take  up  his  cross  daily  is  worthy  of  him,  as 
though  discipleship  meant  both  repose  and  toil, 
both  ease  and  hardship.  But  the  discrimina- 
tion which  the  Gospel  affords  renders  the  para- 
dox plain  :  Jesus  invites  the  world  to  a  release 
from  the  burdens  of  sin  and  to  an  acceptance 
of  the  obligations  of  righteousness ;  he  does 
not  call  one  to  an  inanity,  or  to  a  voluptuary's 
paradise. 

While,  therefore,  Jesus  provides  for  his  follow- 
ers a  transcendent  repose,  he  assigns  to  them  at 
the  same  time  all  the  strivings  with  temptation, 
all  the  responsibilities  of  his  mission,  and  all  the 
opportunities  of  his  kingdom  ;  they  must  ago- 
nize to  enter  in  by  the  strait  gate,  they  must 
labor  in  the  vineyard,  they  must  administer 
faithfully  the  talents  intrusted  to  them,  they 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND  CIRCUMSTANCE.  139 

must  bear  the  burdens  and  the  crosses,  and 
endure  the  crucifixion,  if  need  be  ;  "  it  is  enough 
for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as  his  master."  And 
how  that  Master  toiled !  After  his  ministry- 
began,  he  made  no  earthly  home  his  resting 
place  ;  his  meat  was  to  do  the  will  of  him  who 
sent  him  ;  he  was  obliged  ever  to  accomplish 
that  work. 

There  are  two  ways  of  treating  the  tribula- 
tions of  this  world  :  one  is  to  surrender  to  them 
with  a  whine  and  with  complaint ;  the  other  is 
to  face  them  calmly  and  courageously,  and  make 
the  best  of  them. 

Were  we  to  tabulate  and  magnify  hard- 
ships, the  list  might  be  formidable.  In  the 
sweat  of  our  faces  do  we  eat  bread  ;  daily 
must  we  toil ;  the  land  produces  weeds  faster 
than  crops ;  houses  decay ;  possessions  vanish 
because  of  moth,  rust,  thieves,  and  changing 
conditions ;  mills  suspend  operations ;  bonds 
depreciate  ;  friends  frequently  prove  faithless  ; 
death  often  claims  the  most  loved  one ;  human 
society  is  fickle ;  governments  do  not  always 
govern,  —  and  so  the  tale  might  be  prolonged. 
Distress,  disappointment,  affliction,  trial,  trou- 
ble come  to  all.  We  might  hang  our  harps  on 
the  willow  and  sit  ourselves  down  by  the  waters 
of  Babylon  and  weep.  Niobe  in  her  tears, 
Rachel  inaccessible  to  consolation,  might  appro- 


140  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

priately  be  our  models,  were  we  to  count  only 
woes  and  hardships. 

Pessimism  has  its  data.  But  pessimism 
merely  interprets  one  set  of  facts,  which  are 
facts,  nevertheless  ;  views  but  one  side  of  truth, 
a  side  of  truth,  however,  which  we  must  re- 
member. There  are  evils  in  the  world,  mani- 
fold and  insistent.  But  why  ?  Are  they  ends 
in  themselves  ?  Do  they  mark  out  the  destiny 
of  mankind  ?  Do  they,  indeed,  preponderate  in 
life,  and,  when  the  pleasurable  has  passed  away, 
are  they  to  be  the  residuum  ?  Ah,  no.  And 
here  pessimism  is  wholly  wrong.  The  life  and 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  show  that  ills  and  trials 
and  hardships  are  but  incidental  in  shaping 
human  destiny ;  they  are  disciplinary  at  most. 
It  is  not  intended  that  they  shall  overcome  man, 
as  pessimistic  philosophy  maintains,  but  that 
man  shall  overcome  them,  and  from  the  pro- 
cess of  overcoming  emerge  a  stronger,  better, 
nobler  man,  refined  by  his  very  hardships. 

The  lazy,  slothful  farmer,  who  rises  after  the 
sun  is  up,  leans  against  the  doorpost  and  whit- 
tles sticks  by  the  hour,  while  he  observes  the 
weather,  and  curses  the  rain,  when  it  is  wet, 
and  when  it  is  hot,  the  sunshine,  may  well 
think  that  the  whole  world  is  coming  rapidly 
to  want.  He  does  not  cooperate  with  the  re- 
creative, constructive  forces  of  nature.    He  sees 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND  CIRCUMSTANCE.  141 

only  the  laws  of  decay,  degeneracy,  and  ruin,  — 
laws  which  are  in  the  minority  when  opposed, 
but  easily  hold  sway,  if  the  majority  stand  aside 
and  let  them  operate.  The  farmer  has  in  his 
power  the  pivotal  choice  —  which  shall  win  on  his 
farm :  sloth  and  poverty,  or  industry  and  thrift. 

The  man  of  toil  and  push  and  courage  is  no 
pessimist.  His  acres  are  broad  and  fertile,  his 
buildings  snug  and  firm.  What  optimistic  barns 
he  has,  with  bursting  mows,  and  sleek  cattle ! 
There  is  a  merry,  opulent  sound  to  the  jingle 
of  his  chains,  and  the  rattle  of  his  carts.  He 
has  overcome  his  world.  The  rocks,  the  stumps, 
the  weeds,  hillsides,  meadows,  bottom-land,  — 
he  has  overcome  them  all.  He  is  master ;  at 
his  royal  command  they  do  his  bidding. 

The  labor  of  brawn  and  muscle  and  strong 
determination  has  a  kingly  might.  Its  sove- 
reign ukase  is  universally  heeded.  It  bids 
great  rivers  wed  their  banks,  and,  lo !  there 
springs,  like  heaven's  bow  of  promise,  the  bond 
of  union  from  either  shore,  great  bridges,  high- 
ways of  intercourse.  It  tames  the  lightning's 
dangerous  pranks,  and  renders  it  a  Ganymede 
to  discharge  its  errands,  and  deliver  its  mes- 
sages in  distant  parts  of  the  world.  Following 
invention's  suggestions,  labor  overleaps  space, 
penetrates  earth's  deepest  recesses,  drags  forth 
antiquity's  secrets,  lays  its  hand  on  tired  hu- 


142  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

inanity's  head,  and  brings  the  ministrations  of 
soothing  devices,  —  indeed,  copes  with  all  dis- 
tresses and  relieves  their  bitterness.  Labor 
omnia  vincit,  said  the  Romans,  and  the  school- 
boy writes  it  now  on  the  fly  leaf  of  his  book : 
Labor  overcomes  everything.  In  Eden  labor  may 
have  been  a  curse  ;  but  under  conditions  which 
we  Adams  and  Eves,  outside  the  flaming  gate, 
must  now  face  and  contend  with,  labor  is  our 
best  boon  and  benefactor.  In  the  industrial 
world  it  restores  us  to  our  lost  estate,  brings  us 
back  to  our  paradise.  By  hard  toil  we  enter 
once  again  the  garden,  and  come  beneath  the 
Tree  of  Knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  with  the 
possibilities  of  power  once  more  in  our  hands. 

Mankind  may  be  of  cheer.  Laments,  com- 
plaints, and  pessimistic  moanings  are  repudi- 
ated by  all  human  experience.  Circumstances 
are  not  against  us. 

"The  fault,  dear  Brutus,  is  not  in  our  stars, 
But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings." 

We  can  make  the  tribulations  of  this  world 
yield  us  good.  We  can  overcome  the  world. 
"Where  there  is  a  will,  there  is  a  way." 

"Cassius  from  bondage  will  deliver  Cassius: 


Nor  stony  tower,  nor  walls  of  beaten  brass, 
Nor  airless  dungeon,  nor  strong  links  of  iron, 
Can  be  retentive  to  the  strength  of  spirit." 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND  CIRCUMSTANCE.  143 

This  world,  though  a  stubborn  foe,  becomes  a 
valuable  servant.  It  awaits  our  conquests.  It 
can  be  overcome. 

But,  it  has  been  urged,  two  factors  account 
for  all  individual  peculiarities  and  characteris- 
tics, and  determine  human  destiny  —  heredity 
and  environment.  All  can  agree  with  the 
genial  poet-doctor,  who  said  that  the  training 
of  a  child  should  begin  with  his  grandmother, 
for  we  all  know  that,  while  size  and  temper 
and  beauty  are  determined  in  horses  and  cattle 
and  sheep  by  care  in  breeding,  we,  human  ani- 
mals, inherit  from  our  ancestors  peculiarities 
of  mind  and  body.  This  is  a  matter  of  com- 
mon observation,  as  well  as  of  scientific  dem- 
onstration. 

Blood  tells.  And  what  a  sorry  plight  for 
thousands  of  earth's  little  ones ;  blood,  vicious, 
diseased,  alcohol-crazed,  lust-inflamed,  the  venom 
of  satanic  spleen  in  every  heart-beat,  such  blood 
is  theirs,  the  children  of  innocency,  thus  cursed 
through  no  fault  of  theirs  !  Parentage  implies 
an  awful  immortality ;  unto  the  third,  and 
fourth,  and  succeeding  generations  the  lives 
of  parents  go  on  and  on.  Statistics  of  the 
famous  "  Jukes  "  family  have  shown  that,  with 
scarcely  an  exception,  the  progeny  of  one 
wicked  woman,  numbering  in  several  genera- 
tions one  hundred  and  sixty,  came,  with  her 


144  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

vices  in  their  blood,  to  the  brothel,  the  prison, 
the  poorhouse,  and  the  insane  asylum. 

But  while  the  evil  that  men  do  lives  after 
them,  the  good  is  not  interred  with  their 
bones ;  the  good  likewise  survives.  Fathers 
and  mothers  may  rejoice  in  this,  that  holy  am- 
bitions, earnest  endeavors,  sweet  and  patient 
living,  project  themselves  forward  into  their 
children's  lives  with  abiding  blessings.  Hered- 
ity, therefore,  imparts  to  every  child  contend- 
ing forces  and  tendencies,  some  for  good  and 
some  for  evil,  —  the  invariable  characteristics 
of  human  nature,  warfare  within  the  soul.  The 
contending  forces  vary  in  different  individuals. 
In  that  "Jukes"  family  the  evil  overwhelmingly 
predominated ;  in  other  families  good  tenden- 
cies are  supreme. 

The  social  standard  of  judging  men  is  not 
God's  standard ;  the  social  standard  is  based  on 
absolute  merit.  God's  judgment  takes  into 
account  men's  talents  and  possibilities ;  of  him 
to  whom  many  talents  have  been  committed 
much  is  required ;  of  him  to  whom  few  talents 
have  been  given,  but  little  is  expected.  God 
takes  account  of  advantages  and  disadvantages ; 
he  demands  that  only  of  which  one  is  capable ; 
and  so,  in  his  sight,  every  child,  whatever  its 
inherited  tendencies,  starts  upon  an  equal 
plane,  in  perfect  innocency,  with  no  sin  scored 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND  CIRCUMSTANCE.  145 

against  him,  and  no  merit  to  his  credit.  Sin 
and  merit  are  both  to  be  determined  by  the  de- 
gree of  fidelity  with  which  each  in  his  place, 
with  his  talents,  responds  to  his  possibilities. 
Each  child  must  make  his  own  character  ;  each 
has  certain  possibilities  ;  those  possibilities  con- 
stitute his  world  for  conquest.  At  least,  within 
the  scope  of  his  possibilities  is  he  free.  For 
the  winning  of  the  approval  of  God,  therefore, 
none  are  handicapped. 

Environment  is  now  generally  looked  upon 
as  a  stronger  factor  in  life  than  heredity,  for  it 
has  been  proven  that  nine  out  of  ten  of  the  chil- 
dren placed  in  good  homes  by  the  Children's 
Aid  Society  of  New  York  turn  out  well,  and 
eight  out  of  ten  of  the  criminals  who  receive 
the  influences  of  Elmira  Reformatory  subse- 
quently live  honest  lives.  Surroundings  exert 
a  powerful  influence.  It  has  been  averred 
that  a  human  being  "  left  in  infancy  without 
the  help  and  stimulus  of  human  companions, 
would,  even  if  able  to  survive,  yet  never  mani- 
fest distinctively  human  traits ;  nothing  of  that 
which  is  highest  and  most  characteristic  in 
man  comes  to  him  apart  from  instruction  ;"  and 
it  has  been  found,  by  the  sad  experience  of  a 
child  in  India,  that  a  child  grown  up  among 
wolves  will  run  on  all  fours  like  a  wolf,  eat, 
snarl,  and  take  his  enjoyment  as  do  the  wolves. 


146  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

And  yet,  while  we  fully  acknowledge  the 
great  potency  of  these  influences  within  us  and 
without  us, — whether  we  maintain  with  Dar- 
win and  Spencer  that  acquired  characteristics 
can  be  transmitted,  or  with  Haeckel  and  Weiss- 
mann  that  they  cannot  be  transmitted, — this 
we  all  know  (for  experience  and  observation 
teach  it  daily),  a  man  is  more  than  his  inheri- 
tances and  more  than  his  surroundings, — he 
can  rise  above  them,  —  he  can  overcome  them  ; 
the  power  of  will  is  superior  to  heredity  and 
environment.  Let  us  appeal  to  familiar  in- 
stances. What  made  Grant,  Grant  ?  His  sur- 
roundings ?  Horse-breaking  and  log-rolling  ? 
When  but  twelve  years  of  age,  young  Ulysses 
with  a  pair  of  horses  was  hauling  logs  two 
miles  to  be  used  in  a  county  jail  which  his 
father  had  contracted  to  build.  One  day  the 
man  who  loaded  the  wagon  did  not  come  on 
account  of  severe  rains.  The  boy  would  not 
return  with  an  empty  wagon.  He  discovered 
a  slanting  maple-tree  close  at  hand  ;  near  this 
he  backed  the  wagon,  and  then  with  one  horse 
drew  the  heavy  logs,  one  by  one,  up  the  side  of 
the  tree  and  twitched  them  on  to  the  load. 
Grant  in  conquering  his  logs  was  making  Grant, 
the  successful  general. 

Did  environment  make  James  A.  Garfield  ? 
Born    in    a  log   cabin,    fatherless    at   eighteen 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND   CIRCUMSTANCE.  147 

months,  poor,  and  without  friends  ;  at  seven- 
teen, tramping  the  tow-path ;  when  bent  upon 
school,  cutting  one  hundred  cords  of  wood  in 
fifty  days  at  fifty  cents  a  cord.  What  made 
Garfield?  Garfield  himself.  And  our  Lincoln, 
that  Kentuckian  rail-splitter,  what  made  him  ? 
The  eminent  geologist,  Hugh  Miller,  was  once 
but  a  stone-cutter.  The  renowned  linguist, 
Elihu  Burritt,  came  from  a  blacksmith's  shop. 
Is  environment  the  explanation  ?  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Daniel  Webster,  Horace  Greeley, 
Horace  Mann,  and  thousands  of  others,  no 
less  conspicuous,  have  risen  to  eminence  from 
humble  circumstances,  by  courage,  persever- 
ance, and  constant  application  conquering  the 
world  about  them.  How  many  of  our  most 
famous  and  renowned  men  can  sing,  with 
Whittier,  — 

"  Blessings  on  thee,  little  man, 
Barefoot  boy,  with  cheek  of  tan! 
With  thy  turned-up  pantaloons, 
And  thy  merry  whistled  tunes; 
With  thy  red  lip,  redder  still 
Kissed  by  strawberries  on  the  hill; 
With  the  sunshine  on  thy  face, 
Through  thy  torn  brim's  jaunty  grace; 
From  my  heart  I  give  thee  joy  — 
I  was  once  a  barefoot  boy ! " 

What  worlds  have  been  overcome  by  persis- 
tent effort!  Demosthenes,  practicing  on  the 
seashore  with  pebbles  in  his  mouth,  broke  him- 


148  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

self  of  stammering  and  indistinct  articulation. 
Professor  Von  Treistchke  of  Berlin  University, 
a  most  popular  lecturer,  though  deaf  and  dumb, 
yet  learned  to  articulate  by  studying,  as  deaf 
mutes  may,  the  physical  action  of  the  vocal 
organs.  Laura  Bridgeman  was  blind,  as  well  as 
deaf  and  dumb,  and  had  been  partially  deprived 
of  the  senses  of  taste  and  smell ;  touch  alone, 
and  that  blunted,  remained  to  her  for  contact 
with  men  and  things.  What  a  world  of  dark- 
ness and  isolation  shut  her  in !  but,  by  those 
little  instruments,  the  nerves  residing  in  her 
finger-tips,  she  overcame  her  world  of  dark- 
ness and  seclusion  —  patient,  wonderful  Laura 
Bridgeman !  Even  more  marvelous  are  the 
results  that  Helen  Keller  is  achieving  in  the 
same  way  to-day. 

What  patient  courage,  what  unwavering  de- 
termination does  the  successful  musician  evince 
before  earning  his  musical  freedom,  —  enduring 
long  days  and  years  of  unremitting  bondage  to 
the  mechanical  details  of  notation,  theory,  and 
execution !  What  a  world  of  hindrance  and 
tribulation  does  the  pianist,  or  organist,  en- 
counter in  the  obstinate  inelasticity  of  that 
third  finger!  The  artist,  how  formidable  his 
world,  —  perspective,  pose,  color,  tone,  com- 
position !  He  lodges  in  garrets,  lives  on  crusts, 
ransacks  the  byways  and  galleries  of  all  Europe 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND  CIRCUMSTANCE.  14c9 

for  subjects  and  inspiration,  overcoming  all  the 
time  his  world.  The  author  puts  days  of  patient 
thought  and  careful  pruning  into  single  lines. 
Geniuses  are  not  exempt  from  hardship  and 
toil ;  rather,  because  of  hardships  and  toils 
are  they  geniuses.  "  For  him  who  toils,  God 
helps,"  said  Euripides ;  and  Sophocles  averred, 
"To  those  who  act  not,  fortune  is  no  ally." 
The  Vedas  wisely  exhort, 


**  Perform  all  necessary  acts,  for  action 
Is  better  than  inaction  ;  none  can  live 
By  sitting  still  and  doing  naught ;  it  is 
By  action  only  that  a  man  attains 
Immunity  from  action." 


We  can  acquire  habits  of  mind  and  tem- 
per ;  we  can  overcome  ourselves,  our  laziness, 
our  idleness,  our  forgetfulness,  our  selfishness. 
Will  is  a  factor  in  the  destiny  of  man  greater 
than  hereditary  influences  and  the  effects  of 
environment  combined.  Mr.  W.  M.  F.  Rounds, 
who  is  qualified  to  speak,  says,  "  I  wish  to  put 
myself  on  record,  after  a  study  of  the  criminal, 
and  contrary  to  my  previous  utterances,  as 
going  squarely  back  to  the  doctrine  of  free 
will  as  laid  down  by  our  fathers."  Dr.  G.  A. 
Gordon  states  it  as  the  conclusion  of  a  large 
number  of  thinkers  that  genius  and  saintliness 


150  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

are  transcendent,  above  heredity  and  environ- 
ment. Dr.  A.  H.  Bradford  in  his  very  helpful 
study,  "  Heredity  and  Christian  Problems," 
cites  the  case  of  a  colored  woman  whose 
heritage  was  vicious  and  criminal,  and  whose 
circumstances  of  life  since  childhood  had  been 
such  as  to  tend  to  the  development  of  passion, 
who,  nevertheless,  despite  blood  and  environ- 
ment, had  turned  from  her  old  surroundings 
and  old  friends,  and  had  made  a  new  life  for 
herself ;  another  case  of  a  woman,  whose  home 
was  utterly  distasteful,  without  the  least  love 
between  herself  and  husband,  who,  however, 
after  years  of  such  conditions,  constantly  grow- 
ing worse,  by  a  simple  act  of  will  decided  that 
a  new  domestic  life  must  begin,  and  set  herself, 
unaided,  to  accomplish  this,  and  it  did  begin ; 
and  a  third  case,  of  a  man  of  fine  and  noble 
character,  who  had  risen  to  the  front  rank  of 
his  profession  out  of  an  heredity  which  he 
called  "all  pure  devil." 

Instances  of  the  supremacy  of  will  every 
thoughtful  person  has  observed  innumerable 
times.  The  wisdom  of  that  discreet  philoso- 
pher, Rev.  John  Todd,  whose  "  Student's 
Manual"  our  grandparents  conned,  has  been 
amply  vindicated.  "  Do  not  fear,"  he  says,  "  to 
undertake  any  habit  which  is  desirable ;  for  it 
can  be  formed,  and  that  with  more  ease  than 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND  CIRCUMSTANCE.  151 

you  may  at  first  suppose.  Let  the  same  thing, 
or  the  same  duty,  return  at  the  same  time  every 
day t  and  it  will  soon  become  pleasant.  No  mat- 
ter if  it  be  irksome  at  first ;  but  how  irksome 
soever  it  may  be,  only  let  it  return  periodically, 
every  day,  and  that  without  any  interruption 
for  a  time,  and  it  will  become  a  positive  pleas- 
ure." 

The  world  of  sin  and  temptation  can  be  with- 
stood. As  witnesses  there  comes  before  us  a 
multitudinous  array  of  the  saints  of  all  ages, 
and  of  saints  of  to-day,  in  our  own  communi- 
ties, who  resist  temptation  and  drive  evil  from 
their  hearts.  "  Be  of  good  cheer,"  bade  Jesus ; 
"  I  have  overcome  the  world." 

For  Jesus  it  was  a  world  such  as  we  en- 
counter, a  world  of  poverty.  The  poor  man's 
offering  was  brought  to  the  temple  when  he 
was  forty  days  old,  at  his  mother's  purifica- 
tion ;  he  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ;  he 
lived  the  life  of  an  humble  carpenter. 

It  was  a  world  of  forgetfulness  for  our  Mas- 
ter. Throngs  followed  him  and  then  in  fickle- 
ness turned  from  him ;  they  waved  palm 
branches  before  him  one  day,  and  then,  within 
a  week,  cried,  "  Crucify  him,  crucify  him  ! " 
His  most  intimate  friends  and  trusted  com- 
panions swore  unwavering  allegiance  and  yet 
within  twenty-four  hours,  when  danger  threat- 


152  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

ened,  either  skulked  into  hiding  or  denied  on 
oath  that  they  were  acquainted  with  him. 

He  was  beset  by  most  subtle  temptations : 
to  exercise  his  power  for  his  own  personal 
comfort,  — "  Command  that  these  stones  be 
made  bread  ; "  to  trust  himself  presumptuously 
to  his  own  divine  nature  and  the  divine  over- 
sight, —  "  Cast  thyself  down  :  he  shall  give  his 
angels  charge  concerning  thee  ; "  yea,  and  to 
accomplish  in  a  moment  the  very  mission  of  his 
life,  —  the  conquest  of  the  world,  —  by  yielding 
to  the  world's  plans  and  ideals  through  bowing 
down  unto  Satan,  —  "  All  these  things  will  I 
give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship 
me;"  but  he  resisted  all.  Truly,  he  was 
tempted  in  all  points,  like  as  we  are  ;  yet  he 
sinned  not. 

It  was  a  world  of  sordidness,  passion,  mean- 
ness, narrowness,  bigotry,  strife,  anger,  and 
contention  which  Jesus  overcame.  He  did  not 
avoid  it ;  he  did  not  isolate  himself  from  it ;  he 
did  not  neglect  it ;  nay,  he  sought  it,  he  volun- 
tarily came  to  it,  he  made  himself  a  part  of  it, 
he  faced  its  affronts  and  asperities.  He  over- 
came it. 

A  marvelous  model !  As  he  walked  the  hills 
of  Galilee  and  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  he 
overcame  anger  of  speech,  when  men  reviled 
him ;  overcame  impatience,  when  men  deserted 


VICTORY  OVER  SELF  AND   CIRCUMSTANCE.     153 

him ;  overcame  resentment,  even  when  they 
crucified  him,  tenderly  pleading,  "  Father,  for- 
give them,  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

The  world  can  never  exhaust  the  significance 
of  that  supreme  sacrifice  on  Calvary ;  and  yet 
even  a  greater  sacrifice  was  made  at  heaven's 
gate,  when  the  Lord  Christ  parted  from  the 
glory  with  his  Father,  for  which  he  once  prayed, 
and  came  to  earth,  taking  upon  himself  the  like- 
ness of  man,  laying  aside  his  heavenly  power 
and  majesty,  descending  to  Bethlehem's  mean 
manger,  to  Judea's  factions  and  prejudices  and 
sins.  Ah,  that  advent,  that  incarnation !  what 
a  victory  then  was  won  over  the  world !  If 
purity  ever  had  repugnance  for  impurity,  if 
power  ever  was  loath  to  lay  aside  its  preroga- 
tives, if  majesty  ever  hesitated  to  humble  it- 
self, if  heaven  ever  proved  attractive,  why  did 
not  the  beloved  Son  of  God  then  remain  in 
heaven's  glory  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  ? 
The  world  lost  in  sin,  steeped  in  its  iniquities, 
so  obtuse  to  spiritual  influences,  was  then  over- 
come ;  love  won  its  greatest  battle ;  love  then 
conquered  the  world,  and  brought  its  own  reve- 
lation and  atonement  to  man.  This  was  the 
greatest  conquest  ever  conceived  of,  a  victory 
for  our  sakes,  a  victory  of  sacrifice,  a  victory 
not  only  for  an  example,  but  of  power,  for  it 
gave  us  a  Saviour  and  a  Life. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE    MINISTRY   OF   EVIL. 

Evils  are  divisible  into  three  groups :  — 
There  are  evils  which  come  upon  us  from 
natural  causes,  such  as  earthquakes,  whirlwinds, 
excessive  heat,*  excessive  cold,  drought,  floods, 
lightning,  blight,  and  many  plagues  and  pes- 
tilences, —  evils  that  may  be  said  to  be  the 
dispensations  of  Providence,  or  the  works  of 
God. 

Another  group  embraces  evils  which  arise 
immediately  or  remotely  from  the  misdeeds  of 
men.  Some  are  inherited  from  wrongs  of  long 
ago ;  others  spring  forth  from  present  social 
conditions,  and  seem  to  be  necessary  accom- 
paniments of  modern  life.  Many  of  the  disas- 
ters which  we  ascribe  to  God  are  really  from 
man.  Cholera  issues  not  from  God  but,  begin- 
ning in  unclean  customs  of  the  Orient,  spreads 
among  pilgrims  to  Mecca  through  promiscuous 
bathing  in  plague-infected,  albeit  "  sacred," 
water,  and  is  carried  in  infested  clothing  to  all 
corners  of  the  earth.  God  does  not  send  the 
154 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  EVIL.  155 

plague ;  it  is  man  who  disseminates  it.  Typhoid 
fever  breeds  in  foul  sinks  and  sewers,  for  which 
human  ignorance  or  carelessness  are  responsi- 
ble. It  is  man,  in  unwholesome,  sometimes 
immoral  and  dishonest  social  conditions  who 
sets  evils  in  motion  the  effects  of  which,  disas- 
trous and  dire,  are  often  imputed  to  divine 
wrath  or  divine  indifference.  Poverty  and  dis- 
tress are  usually  man-occasioned.  Their  causes 
lie  sometimes  in  actual  vice,  sometimes  in  lazi- 
ness and  waste,  sometimes  in  ignorance ;  and 
sometimes  bad  laws  are  to  blame,  the  effects 
of  which  in  subtle  ways,  scarcely  perceived  by 
social  economists,  and  never  dreamed  of  by 
those  who  suffer,  bring  seasons  of  widespread 
business  depression,  of  uncertain  money  supply, 
and  of  opportunities  for  extortions,  exactions, 
and  injustice  by  individuals  or  corporations. 

In  the  third  place,  there  are  evils  which  are 
self-occasioned,  —  evils  to  the  body,  because  the 
body  is  abused ;  evils  to  the  mind,  because  the 
mind  is  not  cared  for  and  kept  in  its  favorable 
atmosphere  ;  evils  to  the  conscience  and  soul, 
because  the  higher  nature  in  its  thousand  needs, 
activities,  and  possibilities  is  dwarfed,  starved, 
destroyed. 

These  three  kinds  of  evils  may  be  termed 
natural,  communal,  and  individual.  The  groups 
do  not  always  remain  distinct ;  all  evils  may 


156  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

not  satisfactorily  submit  to  this  classification, 
and  yet  the  groups  are  sufficiently  definite  to 
enable  us  to  see  how  limitation  of  different 
kinds  is  possible,  and  how  the  ministry  of  evil 
may  be  made  beneficial  to  the  soul. 

The  third  group  of  evils,  the  individual,  may 
be  terminated  by  an  act  of  will ;  for  they  lie 
within  the  scope  of  man's  control.  This  is 
true  in  theory  at  least,  and  may  be  approxi- 
mated in  practice.  The  perfect  man  would 
have  no  personal  evils.  If  living  in  obedience 
to  all  laws  of  his  body,  the  body  would  be  sound 
and  serviceable  in  every  part,  —  barring,  of 
course,  hereditary  defects  and  results  of  un- 
avoidable accidents.  The  Creator  has  so  made 
these  wonderful  human  frames  that  every  part 
seeks  ever  to  repair  its  own  wastes,  to  supply 
deficiencies  in  other  parts,  and,  eliminating  poi- 
sons and  warding  off  hurtful  assaults,  to  protect 
itself  and  the  whole  from  harm.  As  an  expres- 
sion of  its  own  nature,  the  human  system  strives 
constantly  to  perfect  itself.  If  we  but  intelli- 
gently cooperated  with  it  or  even  ceased  to 
hinder  its  operations,  it  would  speedily  remove 
from  us  a  vast  amount  of  evil. 

Old  age,  in  truth,  must  be  faced,  for  even  the 
strongest  and  most  robust  at  length  fail  and 
die ;  but  the  ripe  fruition  of  a  life,  coming  to 
its  end  according  to  natural  processes,  should 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  EVIL  157 

be  termed  no  more  an  evil  than  the  withering 
of  a  flower,  when  its  life  has  been  perfected  in 
the  germinant  seed.  The  wasting  of  physical 
strength  in  the  fullness  of  old  age  is  as  natural 
as  the  stopping  of  a  clock,  when  its  store  of 
energy  from  the  spring,  or  the  weight,  has  been 
exhausted.  Old  age  and  death  indicate  matur- 
ity. They  are  the  normal  stages  of  promotion 
to  a  riper,  higher  existence.  Early  death  and 
physical  breakdown  in  middle  life  alone  are 
really  evil.  But,  by  conformity  to  laws,  written 
in  our  physical  members,  these  might  be  largely 
avoided.  Allowing  for  inheritances  and  mal- 
adies incurable,  the  physical  infirmities  still 
within  an  individual's  control  are  multitudi- 
nous. No  one  yet  knows  the  possibilities  of 
his  physical  well-being. 

Evils  of  remorse  for  sins  committed,  of  regret 
for  opportunities  wasted,  of  sorrow  over  unkind- 
ness  done  and  pain  inflicted,  of  spiritual  blight 
and  soul-unrest  because  of  estrangement  from 
God,  —  these  are  evils  subject  to  the  will  of 
man,  not  in  theory  only  but  in  practice ;  they 
are  limitable  to  an  hour  and  a  moment,  and  may 
be  ended  when  the  individual  by  his  own  free 
choice  puts  himself  in  harmonious  contact  with 
divine  grace. 

But  the  other  two  groups  of  evils,  the  na- 
tural and  communal,  are  wholly   beyond  the 


158  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

power  of  the  individual.  Before  them  he  seems 
hopeless ;  they  loom  up  as  fate  ;  he  can  neither 
avoid  nor  overcome  them ;  they  at  times 
threaten  to  crush  him  in  their  path.  He  can- 
not give  wisdom  and  judgment  to  the  mass  of 
men  :  he  can  at  best  simply  found  schools  and 
help  set  in  operation  agencies  for  the  slow 
education  of  future  generations.  He  cannot 
impart  a  sense  of  justice  and  righteousness  to 
legislators  and  executors  of  the  law :  he  can 
but  strive  to  arouse  his  fellow-men  to  a  due 
recognition  of  the  importance  of  these  excel- 
lent qualities  in  public  servants,  and  at  the 
polls  can  register  his  opinion  by  one  vote. 
Sometimes  he  may  be  able  to  publish  text- 
books on  ethics,  or  write  editorials  in  influen- 
tial journals,  or  preach  sermons  to  listening 
multitudes,  or  himself  sit  in  halls  of  legislation, 
assisting  in  the  enactment  of  laws  for  the  exe- 
cution of  righteousness  and  truth  in  the  land ; 
but  usually  he  must  simply  wait  and  suffer, 
while  his  fellow-men,  massed  in  an  almost 
frenzied  multitude,  pursue  what  seems  to  be  a 
relentless  way. 

Neither  can  the  indiyidual  avert  the  fury  of 
the  storm  and  hurricane,  nor  turn  aside  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  nor  stay  mysterious  shocks 
of  earthquake.  A  somewhat  feeble  attempt 
at  foretelling  and  warning  people  of  the  ap- 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  EVIL.  159 

proach  of  such  dread  visitations  is  all  that 
at  present  has  been  attained. 

Have  these  ineluctable  disasters  and  mis- 
fortunes a  mission  ?  or  are  they,  as  frequently 
termed,  "  an  unmitigated  evil  ? " 

In  describing  the  tender  care  of  the  Father 
for  his  children,  Jesus  once  illumined  the  prob- 
lem of  evil  by  the  following  pregnant  words  : 
"Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof." 
Evils  have  a  legitimate  place  in  the  economy 
of  God  ;  they  have  a  mission  ;  they  serve  some 
good  purpose  ;  about  them  is  an  adequacy, 
for  a  time  at  least  ;  they  are  sufficient  for 
to-day. 

The  scientist  has  yet  to  discover  a  single 
animal  or  plant,  however  noxious  or  deadly, 
which,  in  the  scale  of  being  and  in  the  wide 
service  of  nature  to  man,  has  not  some  direct 
or  indirect  beneficent  effect.  The  moralist, 
too,  I  think,  has  yet  to  find  a  single  burden, 
pain,  trial,  or  tribulation,  ever  laid  upon 
humanity's  shoulder,  which  is  not  in  some  way 
tributary  to  physical,  mental,  moral,  or  spirit- 
ual development.  Horace  Bushnell  once  wrote 
a  book,  the  value  of  which  is  yet  unabated, 
upon  "  The  Moral  Uses  of  Dark  Things ; " 
and  Dr.  John  Watson's  (Ian  Maclaren's)  "  The 
Potter's  Wheel "  makes  plain  the  same  lesson, 
how  good  may  come  out  of  evil.     The  writer 


160  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  also  expressed 
this  thought :  "  Now  no  chastening  for  the 
present  seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous ; 
nevertheless  afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peace- 
able fruits  of  righteousness  unto  them  which 
are  exercised  thereby." 

Discipline  is  the  great  benefit ;  and  yet  what 
does  discipline  signify  ? 

Natural  and  communal  evils  make  men  pru- 
dent and  sagacious.  The  severities  of  winter 
account  for  most  of  the  differences  between  a 
thrifty,  energetic  population  in  northern  lati- 
tudes and  a  more  indolent,  listless  population 
near  the  equator.  In  the  history  of  the  world 
rugged  hills  and  cold  regions  have  contributed 
world-conquerors.  Northern  races,  moving 
southward,  have  usually  degenerated  in  energy 
and  manhood  in  the  midst  of  teeming  fertility 
and  prodigal  abundance.  Wealth  primarily  rep- 
resents an  effort  to  provide  for  impending  times 
of  need.  Were  the  present  altogether  affluent 
and  satisfactory,  mankind  would  think  but 
little  of  future  needs.  "Let  us  eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry,"  is  the  cry  of  the  voluptuary, 
unconscious  of  hardship  or  suffering.  It  is 
because  of  storms  that  the  government  main- 
tains a  Weather  Bureau  giving  daily  prognos- 
tications. Necessity  has  become  the  fertile 
mother  of  thousands  of  inventions.     Hardship 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  EVIL.  161 

requires  man  to  inspect  natural  conditions  and 
foresee  impending  changes ;  he  can  scarcely 
help  becoming  observant ;  and  consequently  in- 
sight and  foresight  issue  as  the  permanent  ben- 
efactions of  evil. 

Then,  also,  evils  develop  strength.  It  is  the 
burden-bearers  who  can  bear  burdens,  the  busy 
who  can  work.  Those  who  are  coddled  and 
petted  are  generally  idle  and  useless,  inert  in 
mind  and  flabby  in  muscle.  A  self-made  man, 
so-called,  is  merely  a  man  who  has  been  obliged 
to  face  hardships  in  life  with  little  or  no  help, 
and  has  become  what  he  is,  whether  self-made  or 
otherwise,  by  enduring  the  hardships,  winning 
in  the  struggles,  and  overcoming  the  difficulties. 
When  at  length  he  is  strong,  people  term  him 
"  self-made." 

Some  kinds  of  evils  develop,  also,  breadth  of 
mind  and  sympathy.  The  saints  of  earth  who 
can  best  appreciate  another's  circumstances  and 
most  effectively  render  assistance  are  those  who 
have  tried  life  in  some  of  its  bitterest  portions. 
Through  experience  they  have  learned  to  see 
and  understand.  A  deep  philosophy  for  all  of 
human  need  lies  in  the  fact  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are ;  he, 
therefore,  is  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  in- 
firmities. Because  of  this  bond  of  sympathy, 
we  can  be  assured  of  his  nearness  to  us,  and 


162  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

can  realize  his  contact  with  our  life  in  suffer- 
ing. Suffering  makes  the  whole  world  kin. 
Pain  brings  all  classes  to  a  level.  Grief  and 
sorrow  obliterate  distinctions ;  and,  therefore, 
they  who  sorrow  learn  to  know  men. 

Still  further,  the  evils  in  life  tend  to  produce 
confidence  and  courage.  Repulses  from  with- 
out, throwing  a  man  back  upon  himself  and  his 
own  resources,  make  him  self-reliant.  The  sailor 
who  has  weathered  storms  fears  not  an  approach- 
ing gale;  vessel,  sails,  rope,  and  spar,  he  confi- 
dently trusts,  because  he  has  tried  them.  So 
in  life's  voyages,  the  buffeting  of  winds,  of 
waves,  and  tempests  prepares  the  voyager  for 
another  day's  voyage. 

But  one  of  the  best  of  all  benefits  from  evils 
is  the  preparations  for  peace  which  they  give  to 
man.  So  obtuse  are  our  perceptions  that  we  sel- 
dom appreciate  blessings  until  deprived  of  them. 
Home  means  most  to  us  after  a  period  of  depri- 
vation. How  good  the  sunshine  is  after  days  and 
weeks  of  cloud  and  rain  !  How  sweet  the  quiet 
when  the  day's  turmoil  of  hurry  and  anxiety 
and  painful  labor  is  over !  How  good  is  peace 
when  the  battle  is  won  !  Indeed,  that  for  which 
we  have  toiled,  we  appreciate ;  that  which  has 
cost  us  pain  becomes  precious.  Anguish,  a 
high  price,  is,  nevertheless,  often  the  only 
price  at  which  contentment  can  be  purchased. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  EVIL.  163 

Ah,  the  discipline  of  trial  is  not  a  myth  ! 
Even  the  sad  burlesques  of  trial  and  suffering 
which  men,  in  their  cravings  for  peace  of  con- 
science, have  brought  upon  themselves  only 
prove  the  reality  of  the  peace  which  human 
experience  has  often  found  in  the  throes  of 
pain.  Many  a  religious  enthusiast,  particularly 
of  the  Orient,  has  deemed  lacerations  of  the 
flesh  obligatory  as  an  act  of  merit  not  only  to 
win  divine  favor,  but  also  to  render  the  spirit 
open  and  receptive  to  the  tenets  of  faith  which 
his  religion  offers.  The  terrible  ordeal  of  hook- 
swinging  in  India,  —  in  which  the  great  hook 
of  iron  holds  a  worshiper  by  the  livid  flesh  and 
allows  him  to  swing  back  and  forth  high  above 
the  heads  of  a  gathered  multitude,  an  object  of 
pious  wonderment,  —  is  but  a  mistaken,  incon- 
gruous plea  for  peace  by  the  way  of  pain. 

Martin  Luther  was  seeking  peace  when  he 
climbed  the  staircase  at  Rome  on  his  knees. 
The  doctrine  of  penance  rests  largely  upon  this 
very  principle,  that  pain  is  both  propitiatory 
and  palliative.  Fasting  finds  its  justification 
to-day,  wherever  it  is  justified,  because  of  its 
disciplinary  effects  upon  the  soul  and  its  prepa- 
ration, thereby,  for  deeper  spiritual  experiences. 
A  hermit  in  lonely  cell,  with  self-immolation, 
scourgings,  hair  shirt,  thongs,  watchings,  and 
scanty  supplies  of  food,  is  simply  seeking  peace 


164  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

via  dolorosa.  Simeon  Stylites  on  his  pillar, 
year  by  year  ascending  ever  higher,  until  at  last 
sixty-six  feet  above  ground,  unable  night  or  day 
to  recline,  lived  out  his  life,  having  crucified  the 
body  by  thirty-seven  years  of  slow  torture,  in  a 
frenzied  attempt  to  obtain  the  full  fruits  of  the 
discipline  of  suffering. 

Surely  there  is  a  great  and  holy  mission  in 
pain  and  trial ;  but  Jesus  taught,  also,  that  evils 
are  not  to  be  courted  and  sought.  Simeon  on 
his  pillar,  and  every  human  being,  whether  her- 
mit or  not,  who  solicits  hardships  and  trials  to 
abide  with  him,  is  but  plucking  evil  out  of  all 
the  days  and  heaping  it  upon  himself  in  one 
day.  Evil  is  sufficient  for  the  day ;  it  must 
abide  in  its  day.  While  it  serves  a  purpose, 
yet  that  purpose  is  limited  to  the  present.  No 
day  may  rightly  plunder  another  day  of  its 
share.  No  forward  look  may  rightly  anticipate 
evil  and  bring  it  back,  even  in  thought,  as  an 
accumulation  for  to-day.  Do  not  cross  the 
bridge  until  you  get  to  it ;  do  not  suffer  pain  un- 
til it  is  necessary  ;  take  no  anxious  thought  for 
the  morrow :  these  are  maxims  which  accord 
with  the  wisdom  of  divine  revelation,  as  well  as 
of  human  experience.  Out  of  to-morrow  draw 
back  none  of  its  burdens. 

Doubtless  the  surest  way  to  escape  hell  is, 
not  so  much  to  fear  hell  and  strenuously  avoid 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  EVIL  165 

it,  as  to  bear,  little  by  little,  as  they  come,  the 
burdens  of  life,  even  if  they  seem  like  an  inflic- 
tion of  punishment  itself.  The  safest  road  to 
greatness  is  not  by  anticipating  great  deeds, 
but  by  performing  little  ones  in  their  oppor- 
tunity. Holiness  is  never  a  great  straining 
after  future  excellence;  it  is  rather  perfection 
in  small,  present  graces. 

To-day,  simple  to-day,  the  plain  commonplace 
Now,  without  extraordinary  experiences,  di- 
vested of  all  flavor  of  martyrdom  and  glory, 
to-day,  with  its  ordinary  routine,  with  its  frugal, 
yet  ample  opportunities,  to-day  is  the  accepted 
time  in  our  Lord's  sight.  To-day  is  sufficient ; 
it  has  an  adequate  supply  of  trial  for  discipline 
and  development,  is  significant  enough  in  all 
equipment  for  the  finest  fruits  of  Christian  ex- 
perience. To-day  is  the  entrance  to  heaven  as  it 
is  the  escape  from  hell.  To-day  unlocks  all  the 
future,  though  containing  none  of  that  future. 
To-day  and  its  equipment  are  enough.  Were 
man  to  have  only  to-day,  this  single  day  and  no 
more,  yet  in  this  day  could  be  settled  all  the 
destinies  of  the  entire  human  family.  To-day 
is  enough  to  deal  with  evil,  cope  with  evil,  and 
determine  the  significance  of  evil  to  the  soul. 

Another  teaching  of  the  Master  makes  the 
mission  and  scope  of  evil  plainer.  As  the  evil 
of  to-morrow  must  not  be  brought  back  into  to- 


166  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS, 

day,  so  is  it  true  that  no  evil  should  be  taken 
out  of  to-day  and  carried  forward  into  to-morrow. 
Evil  must  abide  in  its  day ;  its  sufficiency  is 
momentary,  not  prolonged.     Nightfall  is  dm 
as  a  barrier  to  the  passage  of  evil,  to  or  fro, 
either  from  the  future  into  the  present,  or  from 
the  present  into  the  future ;  it  is  a  time  of  set- 
tlement, — the  clearing-house  of  pain.    We  m 
carry  no  sorrow  into  the  night ;  and  borrow  no 
trouble  from  beyond  to-night.     Pain  may  h' 
for  to-morrow,  but  it  must  be  the  pain  of  to-day. 
The  past  may  have  trained  us  and  developed  us 
for  to-day,  but  the  pain  we  leave  behind, 
with  us  only  its  peaceable  fruits. 

The  burdens  of  life  have  their  place  in  God's 
good  providence,  but  that  place  is  on  the  shoul- 
der, never  at  the  back,  and  never  before,  an  hin- 
drance to  the  feet  and  a  menace  to  the  face. 

There  are  unfortunate  men  and  women  who 
carry  burdens  ever  with  them,  and  accumulate 
woes  as  the  ragman  gathers  junk.  This  is  not 
Christ-like.  We  have  seen  men  and  women  liv- 
ing in  constant,  anxious  dread  of  dire  misfortune, 
of  some  evil  sure  to  happen.  This  likewis 
not  Christian.  Jesus  forcibly  said,  "  Let  the 
dead  bury  their  dead.1'  Birth  and  death  belong 
to  a  day,  and  cannot  be  indefinitely  repeated. 

Burden-bearers  may  take  comfort  in  the 
thought  that,  though  the  struggles  with  diffi- 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  EVIL.  167 

culty  be  hard  and  prolonged,  oft  repeated,  yet 
there  is  a  time  for  rest ;  no  burden  may  right- 
fully go  out  of  its  day.  Wc  may  lay  it  down,  and 
unbend  the  yoke.  We  may  place  our  burden  on 
him  who  bears  the  sin  of  the  world.  Joy  cometh 
in  the  morning.  We  should  begin  every  day 
anew ;  we  must  not  let  trials  and  tribulations  be- 
come monotonous.  That  which  was  yester- 
day's must  remain  with  yesterday.  To-day  has 
enough.  We  must  check  the  whining  tone,  and 
guard  the  peevish  complaint  and  querulous 
spirit.  We  must  throw  off  anxious  forebodings, 
relieve  strained  nerves,  and  relax  taut  energies,  to 
bathe  in  thoughts  of  divine  goodness  and  grace. 
If  evils  are  limited  to  their  day,  shut  within 
their  own  natural  barriers,  borne  neither  in  an- 
ticipation nor  by  retrospection,  but  only  in 
actual  experience,  then  will  they  bless  mankind. 
Their  ministry  is  for  good ;  but  un-christian 
men  frequently  become  bitter  during  discipline, 
morose  and  pessimistic  under  trial ;  it  is  because 
they  fail  to  deal  with  evils  rightly.  Christians 
become  sweeter,  more  hopeful,  more  helpful, 
realizing  that  "whom  the  Father  loveth,  he 
chasteneth ; "  and  the  hand  that  smites  bears 
also  the  balm  that  heals.  Blessed,  then,  be  the 
extremity  that  helps  us  to  know  the  loving- 
kindness  of  him  who  draws  near  in  the  time  of 
need.     Self-discipline  means  self-realization. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CHARACTER,   THE   PORTAL   TO   VISION. 

What  a  man  is  determines  what  he  sees. 
Environment  goes  for  naught  unless  he  have 
the  power  of  relation  to  environment.  Man  is 
the  solution  of  circumstance,  not  the  creature 
of  circumstance.  The  world  culminates  in 
every  man  :  what  his  character  is  decides  what 
the  character  of  all  else  shall  be  to  him. 

There  really  is  no  God  for  the  wicked ;  they 
see  him  not,  they  know  him  not.  They  may 
behold  a  projection  of  their  own  unrighteous- 
ness, and  call  it  "  God  ; "  "  Lord,  I  knew  thee 
that  thou  art  an  hard  man,  reaping  where  thou 
hast  not  sown,  and  gathering  where  thou  hast 
not  strawed ; "  they  may  see  a  grotesque 
image  of  wrath  and  vengeance,  but  it  is  not 
God.  God  is  discernible  to  the  pure  in  heart 
only.  To  the  froward,  unto  whom  the  Psalmist 
says  he  appears  froward,  God's  real  character 
does  not  appear  at  all. 

Judas  could  not  have  written  one  of  the  Gos- 
pels. His  suicide  was  but  expressive  of  him- 
168 


CHARACTER,   THE  PORTAL   TO   VISION.   169 

self.  Though  with  Jesus  as  long  as  any  of  the 
disciples,  he  saw  not  Jesus ;  thirty  pieces  of 
silver  assumed  larger  proportions  in  his  eyes 
than  did  the  Lord. 

"  What  is  truth  ? "  asked  Pilate.  Pilate  was 
a  moral  coward ;  desiring  to  free  Jesus,  thrice 
attempting  his  release,  yet  condemning  him  to 
death  and  impotently  washing  his  hands  be- 
cause of  his  wife's  dream,  Pilate  could  not  then 
see  truth,  and  the  Christ  made  no  reply. 

Simon  Magus  would  give  money  for  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  he  was  not  willing  to 
give  himself.  He  and  his  money  were,  there- 
fore, cursed  to  perish  together;  for  his  silver 
and  his  soul  were,  indeed,  not  much  unlike. 

The  Bible  bears  its  own  attestation  upon  its 
face.  What  it  is  is  seen  in  every  part.  The 
pure  in  heart  in  all  ages,  the  truest,  noblest,  and 
best  men  and  women  have  always  found  in  it  a 
revelation  of  God.  Could  a  forger  of  the  second 
century,  a  liar  at  heart,  have  written  the  Gos- 
pels, and  invented  the  Christ  ?  As  soon  think 
of  thistles  bearing  figs  !  Martin  Luther  rea- 
soned on  this  wise :  the  self -vindication  of  the 
Word  of  God  is  conclusive ;  that  which  reveals 
truth,  must  be  true ;  that  which  shows  God, 
must  partake  of  the  divine. 

Was  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  ?  Miracles 
are  not  the  only  appeal,  nor  yet  the  bare  asser- 


170  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

tions  of  Scripture.  The  life  itself  is  in  evi- 
dence. Take  the  smallest  residuum  of  criticism, 
even  of  hostile  criticism,  and  then  declare 
whether  man  ever  spake  as  he !  Where  is  the 
duplicate  of  such  compassion  as  his,  such  pa- 
tience as  his,  such  tenderness,  such  bravery, 
such  forgiveness  ?  When  and  where  has  the 
world  ever  matched  his  teaching,  in  simplicity, 
in  penetrativeness,  —  going  directly  to  the  con- 
science,—  in  power  to  mold  and  shape  those 
who  hear  and  heed  it?  The  character  of  the 
Christ  is  unique,  incomparable  in  the  world's 
history.  It  is  seen  by  those  who  have  the  ca- 
pacity to  appreciate,  even  in  part,  the  incompar- 
able, to  see  the  divine. 

The  judge  in  any  court  house,  as  he  presides, 
in  all  his  rulings,  in  all  his  charges,  discloses 
day  by  day  less  of  law  than  of  himself. 

The  journalist  in  any  editorial  sanctum,  daily 
coining  thought  for  thousands  of  careless  read- 
ers and  giving  shape  and  policy  to  an  enterpris- 
ing, successful  newspaper,  is  yet  recording 
more  of  his  own  inner  biography  than  of  the 
wide  world's  news.  The  careless  reader  reads 
the  news;  but  the  observant  discover  in  every 
line  the  genius  of  the  newspaper,  and  know  the 
personality  in  the  managing  chair. 

The  physician  with  his  phials  and  prescrip- 
tions is  yet  more  than  all  he  brings  and  applies, 


CHARACTER,   THE  PORTAL   TO   VISION.   171 

or  prescribes.  He  is  read,  discerned,  looked 
for,  leaned  upon.  Though  he  diligently  set  to 
work  to  cultivate  a  non-committal  exterior,  in 
order  to  avoid  awakening  needless  alarm  or 
raising  false  hopes,  yet  by  even  a  dull  eye  his 
spirit  and  character  and  many  of  his  fears  and 
hopes  are  seen. 

The  preacher  in  the  pulpit  preaches  himself 
more  than  sermons.  Those  hearers  most  like 
the  preacher  know  the  real  preacher  best.  It 
is  his  life  that  gives  power  to  his  words.  At 
least,  what  the  people  think  him  to  be  is  the 
measure  of  his  influence  upon  them.  He  may 
preach  Christ,  far  above  himself,  and  yet,  year 
in  and  year  out,  he  lifts  his  hearers  toward 
Christ  only  as  he  himself  draws  near  to  Christ. 
His  soul  must  needs  be  the  great  high  priest 
between  men  and  God.  If  he  be  pure,  he  sees 
God  ;  as  they  see  him,  so  they  through  him  are 
led  to  see  God. 

The  teacher  really  teaches  personality,  and 
little  else.  A,  b,  c's  are  remembered  ;  some 
tables  in  arithmetic  are  remembered,  a  few  rules 
and  dates,  —  but  after  all  not  many.  The 
teacher,  however,  is  never  forgotten.  Old  men 
remember  the  teachers  of  even  their  most 
youthful  days.  Teachers  have  assigned  les- 
sons, but  teachers,  unassigned,  have  been  stud- 
ied even  more.     Teaching  is  really  a  matter  of 


172  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

contagion,  rather  than  instruction.  The  intel- 
lectual and  moral,  as  well  as  the  spiritual  life, 
are  imparted  by  contact.  Character  arouses 
character,  inspires  character,  really  makes  char- 
acter. What  the  teacher  is  determines  what 
the  teacher  teaches  ;  and  what  the  pupil  is 
determines,  no  less,  what  the  pupil  receives. 

Parents  may  exhaust  themselves  and  exhaust 
their  children  by  precepts  and  exhortations, 
while  pouring  forth  the  wisdom  of  Solomon, 
even  adding  the  rod  thereto,  without  materially 
benefiting  son  or  daughter.  All  that  is  on  the 
lips  is  of  little  avail ;  but  whatever  is  in  ex- 
ample, —  that  never  fails.  Example  is  charac- 
ter in  expression.  Children  do  not  seriously 
heed  what  they  hear ;  they  do  follow  what  they 
see.  What  a  father  is,  therefore,  rather  than 
what  he  professes  determines  the  amount  of 
fatherhood  which  he  bestows  upon  his  children. 

Every  man,  whatever  his  trade  or  calling, 
gives  to  the  world  more  than  the  products  of 
his  business  and  toil.  He  gives  himself,  un- 
intentionally, unconsciously,  yet  inevitably. 
What  he  is,  all  about  him  partake  of,  and  in 
proportion  as  they  resemble  him  do  they  ap- 
proach a  full  realization  of  what  he  is  and  par- 
take of  him  fully. 

Character  is  the  open  door  through  which  a 
man  looks  out  and  sees  the  world  ;  it  is  also  the 


CHARACTER,   THE  PORTAL   TO   VISION.   173 

open  door  through  which  other  men  look  in  and 
discover  him. 

Men  always  behold  a  reflection  of  themselves 
in  the  world.  The  painter  sees  color ;  the 
sculptor,  form ;  the  architect,  structure,  mate- 
rial, form,  and  utility  combined  ;  the  musician 
hears  tones  and  harmonies  ;  the  geologist  reads 
upon  the  pavement  indications  of  geologic 
changes  ;  to  the  botanist  all  the  world  is  a  gar- 
den ;  the  biologist  studies  life  even  in  the 
water  we  drink,  the  dust  we  inhale,  and  the  very 
tissues  of  which  the  body  is  composed.  Every 
man  in  the  mirror  of  the  universe  beholds  him- 
self, or  a  part  of  himself.  What  he  is  deter- 
mines his  vision  ;  the  significance  of  all  the 
world  depends  upon  the  man  himself. 

Important  principles  are  here  involved.  Men 
are  restless  to-day,  seeking  changes,  clamoring 
for  improvement.  They  complain  of  external 
circumstances,  of  hard  environment,  of  trials  of 
which  they  seem  helpless  victims ;  and  they 
seek  by  popular  discussion  and  by  legislative 
enactment  to  relieve  distresses  and  secure 
amelioration.  They  seem  to  have  divided  all 
the  world  into  two  factors,  themselves  on  the 
one  hand,  and  everything  else  on  the  other; 
and  to  have  begun  reform  by  laboring  upon 
the  second  factor.  It  is  the  wrong  factor  to 
amend  and  improve  first,  if  at  all.     Self-culture 


174  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

alone  gives  culture ;  self  must  be  the  starting 
point. 

Many  a  child  has  times  of  wishing,  "  Oh,  if 
only  my  father  lived  in  such  a  house,  or  was  as 
rich  as  such  a  man  ! "  But  there  would  be  no 
greater  happiness  if  the  wish  were  gratified; 
happiness  comes  not  from  houses  or  wealth. 

Many  a  maiden,  I  suppose,  is  foolish  enough 
to  look  upon  another  and  to  sigh  within  herself, 
"  Ah,  if  only  I  had  that  complexion,  and  form, 
and  hair,  and  those  eyes  !  "  But  attractiveness 
and  winsomeness  do  not  depend  upon  features 
which  must  fade  with  years,  and  may  vanish  in 
a  great  sorrow  of  a  single  day. 

Students  not  infrequently  envy  what  seem  to 
be  the  easier  circumstances  and  greater  advan- 
tages of  another.  But  they,  too,  look  at  the 
wrong  factor.  He  who  earns  his  own  way 
through  school  and  college  may  have  the  better 
opportunity  for  self-culture,  and  by  the  very 
lack  of  what  he  terms  advantages  may  really 
have  the  greater  advantages.  That  plodding 
student,  who  acquires  laboriously  and  retains 
with  difficulty,  may  chafe  and  groan  over  his 
grinding  toil,  as  he  looks  from  the  window  upon 
a  more  brilliant  classmate  who  has  ample  time 
for  tennis,  and  walks,  and  chats,  and,  as  later  in 
the  classroom,  he  hears  the  brilliant  man  make 
glib  recitation  of  paragraphs  that  elude  his  toil- 


CHARACTER,   THE  PORTAL   TO  VISION.   175 

some  application  ;  but  the  end  is  not  yet.  Per- 
haps the  slow  plodder,  after  all,  gains  the  more 
from  study  and  classroom,  by  his  very  plodding 
disciplining  himself  to  prolonged  and  severe 
mental  labor,  fitting  himself  for  work  in  the 
great  arena  of  life,  for  which  the  other  has 
had  no  training,  and  finds  at  length  no  disposi- 
tion. Self  is  the  great  factor,  self-discipline  the 
true  aim. 

Few  would  object  to  the  clamor  heard  in  the 
industrial  world  to-day,  for  higher  wages  and 
shorter  days,  or  would  not  wish  that  the  one 
were  paid  and  the  other  granted ;  but  if  those 
who  are  so  strenously  striving  after  better  pay, 
and  a  nine  or  an  eight-hour  day  of  labor,  were 
as  earnestly  seeking  also  the  betterment  of 
self,  they  would  make  real  gains.  Too  often 
the  man  who  complains  has  sunk  himself  in  the 
mass.  If  only  he  would  now  assert  his  man- 
hood, show  his  personal  dignity,  stand  for 
himself  alone,  for  truth,  for  right,  for  sobriety, 
honesty,  and  honorable  dealing ;  if  only  he 
would  be  a  man,  every  inch  of  a  man,  before 
God  and  his  fellows,  —  then  would  his  life  be 
truly  noble,  and  the  final  solution  of  his  diffi- 
culties more  simple. 

There  are  Christians  longing  for  the  quiet, 
even  temperament  of  some  other  Christian, 
scarcely  realizing  that   their   best   garden-plot 


176  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

for  all  Christian  graces  is  in  their  own  souls, 
that  their  deficiencies,  even  their  perversities, 
are  opportunities  for  self -culture. 

What  can  I  make  of  self  ?  That  is  the  vital 
question.  Self-victory  is  true  achievement. 
Self  is  the  measure  of  all  perception ;  self  is 
both  the  spectacles  through  which  all  the  world 
is  seen,  and  the  telescope  for  far  distant  vision 
toward  other  worlds.  Self,  therefore,  is  the 
one  chief  factor  for  cultivation. 

In  modern  psychology,  particularly  as  applied 
to  the  science  of  teaching,  the  term  appercep- 
tion now  plays  an  important  part.  Apperception 
is  the  act  of  the  mind  in  bringing  all  of  its 
knowledge  to  bear  upon  the  recognition  of 
any  idea.  To  illustrate  :  on  beholding  a  rose- 
bush, never  seen  before,  what  new  thing  does 
the  observer  behold  ?  Does  he  see  the  bush 
in  its  parts :  the  leaf,  the  trunk,  the  bark,  the 
fiber,  the  form,  the  flower?  Does  he  see  in 
the  bush  anything  that  he  would  state  in  de- 
scribing the  characteristics  of  the  rose  ?  Very 
little  indeed,  if  anything ;  really  a  new  rose-bush 
is  to  an  observer  simply  a  stimulation,  from 
without,  coming  to  him  by  way  of  vision,  to 
call  up  in  his  mind  all  knowledge  of  rose-bushes 
which  he  has  previously  gained.  The  form,  the 
fiber,  the  bark,  the  trunk,  the  branch,  the  leaf, 
the  flower,  he  sees  only  as  he  has  seen  them 


CHARACTER,   THE  PORTAL   TO   VISION.   177 

before.  An  observer  perceives  chiefly  that 
which  he  already  knows.  Past  acquisitions  de- 
termine present  acquirements.  Even  in  rose- 
bush matters  what  a  man  is  determines  what 
he  shall  see. 

When  a  company  of  travelers  goes  abroad, 
the  man  of  letters  finds  literary  associations 
everywhere ;  the  political  economist  runs  upon 
financial  and  social  data  everywhere  ;  the  trades- 
man can  pick  up  bargains  on  any  corner  and 
bring  home  suggestions  for  trade  from  many  a 
street-vender  as  well  as  from  every  great  em- 
porium ;  the  philanthropist  discovers  on  every 
side  problems  and  solutions  in  reform ;  so  the 
statesman  sees  statescraft,  the  historian  histori- 
cal suggestions,  the  artist  art.  All  Europe  is  but 
a  gigantic  stimulus  to  internal  apperception. 
What  a  man  takes  with  him,  that,  in  ninety- 
nine  parts,  he  sees,  adding  perhaps  thereto  the 
one  hundreth  part  as  a  genuine  acquisition. 

We  cannot  leave  self  behind ;  we  cannot  drop 
self  out  of  calculation ;  we  cannot  rise  above 
and  ignore  the  self  which  we  have  been  rearing. 
We  must  always  live  with,  depend  upon,  and 
employ  self.  We  are  self-fettered  ;  but  we  are 
not  victims  of  self.  While  inseparable  from 
ourselves  and  so  limited  by  our  past  achieve- 
ments and  present  development,  yet  little  by 
little,   even   in   the  hundredth   part,   we  may 


178  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

master  ourselves  and  gradually  make  our- 
selves. 

The  past  has  gone,  irrevocably,  leaving  us 
as  we  are ;  but  the  future  lies  open.  What  to- 
morrow shall  hold  for  us  depends  upon  what  we 
to-day  make  of  ourselves  in  the  small  fractional 
part  of  gain  and  improvement  of  which  we  are 
capable.  Shall  we  see  rose-bushes  to-morrow  ? 
Then  we  must  have  seen  them  in  part  at 
least  before  to-morrow  comes.  Even  rose-bush 
vision  is  a  matter  of  cultivation.  Shall  we 
have  eyes  for  pictures  to-morrow  ?  Will  virtue 
win  our  appreciation  ?  Shall  we  be  able  to  be- 
hold purity  ?  Shall  we  see  God  ?  Self-training 
prepares  for  sight. 

It  is  plain  what  these  truths  portend.  A 
prophecy  of  future  citizenship  lies  in  the  school- 
room. The  aptitudes  called  forth  in  the  pupils 
assure  the  qualities  and  the  development  of  the 
man.  Manhood  and  womanhood  are  the  fruit- 
age of  early  impressions  and  influences. 

But  present  attainments,  made  in  learning  the 
lessons  of  life,  have  a  prophecy,  also,  for  far  dis- 
tant visions.  When  a  man  is  through  with  the 
pupilage  of  this  earthly  experience,  what  shall 
he  then  see  ?  Must  not  the  answer  be,  he  will 
see  that  for  which  he  has  been  fitting  himself  ? 
Can  the  sinner  see  God?  Can  he  perceive  that 
which  he  has  in  no  degree  cultivated  in  him- 


CHARACTER,   THE  PORTAL   TO   VISION.   179 

self?  Will  it  be  possible  for  a  man  to  stand 
upon  the  summit  of  the  mountain  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  and  look  out  upon  the  glories  and 
raptures  of  the  blessed,  and  take  in  the  enjoy- 
ment which  they  experience,  unless  he  has 
fitted  his  soul  beforehand,  in  some  degree  at 
least,  for  those  experiences  ?  Can  we  apprehend 
more  than  that  for  which  and  by  which  we  are 
apprehended  ?  Ah,  heaven  to  have  signifi- 
cance to  a  man  must  have  its  seat  within  the 
man !  Heaven  must  get  into  him  more  than 
he  gets  into  heaven.  The  New  Jerusalem  begins 
within,  if  it  begins  at  all  for  us  mortals.  The 
soul  is  the  seat  of  spiritual  delectation.  It  is 
the  pure  in  heart  who  shall  see  God. 

These  are  simple,  yet  far-reaching  truths. 
What  are  we  ?  Are  we  what  we  would  fain  be 
to-morrow,  and  next  year,  and  always  ?  What 
do  we  harbor  within  ?  Is  it  what  we  shall  be 
satisfied  to  have  ourselves  converted  into  and 
at  length  become,  for  eternity  ?  It  is  suicide 
against  the  higher  self,  not  only  that  is,  but 
also  that  may  be,  to  harbor  unhallowed  and 
unhallowing  thoughts. 

A  tradesman  may  be  so  much  of  a  trades- 
man, so  absorbed,  body  and  soul,  in  his  business 
as  to  be  capable  through  all  eternity  of  only 
dealing  in  small  wares  and  taking  satisfaction 
in  bargains.     The  lawyer,  doctor,  teacher,  stu- 


180  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

dent,  mill-man,  farmer,  the  toiler  of  every  kind 
and  every  grade,  may  make  life  but  the  routine 
grind  of  the  chosen  profession  and  labor. 

We  cannot  equalize  human  conditions.  It 
is  impossible  to  bring  all  men  to  one  level.  No 
Utopian  scheme  of  nationalization  or  of  social- 
ization has  yet  been  wrought  out  that  can  be 
applied,  because  all  men  are  not  intrinsically 
equal,  and  cannot  enter  into  equal  possessions 
and  responsibilities.  The  individual  is  himself  ; 
he  cannot  be  changed  by  the  enactment  of 
legislation  or  by  the  philanthropy  of  his  fellows, 
into  anything  more  than  what  he,  by  his  own 
mastery  over  self,  will  make  of  himself.  Soup- 
kitchens  and  back-door  charity  effect  no  per- 
manent good.  Relief  and  reform  must  reach 
within  and  come  from  within. 

It  is  impossible  by  vote  of  the  church  to 
make  men  saints.  Canonization  is  a  heart 
process.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  system 
of  theology  can  work  out  the  salvation  of  all 
men.  The  individual  stands  by  himself.  What- 
ever God  is  does  not  effect  what  man  is,  unless 
man  can  take  and  assimilate  that  which  God 
proffers.  God  can  see  man ;  but  will  man  see 
God  ?  I  can  see  a  stone ;  can  the  stone  see 
me?  However  much  I  may  prize  the  stone 
and  be  well  disposed  toward  it,  yet  there 
can  be  no  fellowship  between  the  stone  and 


CHARACTER,    THE  PORTAL    TO   VISION.    181 

me,  unless  the  stone  can  take  on  enough  of  my 
characteristic  to  win  and  appreciate  my  ap- 
proval. No  analogy  of  nature  and  no  utterance 
of  revelation  warrant  the  assumption  that  an 
embryo  while  undeveloped  shall  enter  into 
higher  states.  It  must  grow,  it  must  develop ; 
it  must  have  an  opportunity  for  growth  and 
development.  Salvation,  though  accompanied 
by  divine  influences  and  powers,  must  yet  be 
an  achievement  by  man  ;  it  is  a  process  of 
growth  under  cultivation,  a  development  from  a 
possibility  into  an  actuality,  a  struggle  for  gain 
and  improvement,  a  cultivation  of  the  pure  and 
noble  and  spiritual  in  man. 

The  pure  in  heart  may  see  God  everywhere. 
He  is  not  far  away  on  some  high  Olympus,  or 
in  some  remote  planet.  In  him  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being.  Wonderful  are  the 
works  of  his  hand.  All  law  expresses  his  will ; 
all  truth  reveals  his  being.  He  rules  in  nature 
and  reigns  amongst  men.  Despite  the  evil 
deeds  of  men,  God's  presence  and  purposes 
stand  forth  in  human  society  both  past  and 
present.     God  is  in  all  the  world. 

They  who  have  so  willed  it  and  have  so  devel- 
oped their  spirits  have  divine  companionship 
always.  What  strength  to  lean  upon  God  when 
in  trial !  What  solace  to  turn  to  God  when  in 
sorrow !     What  peace  to  trust  in  God  when 


182  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

perplexed  !  What  wisdom  when  God  leads  the 
way  !  They  alone  who  see  God  in  all  the  affairs 
of  life  have  learned  to  make  life  beautiful; 
they  alone  fit  in  with  the  plans  and  purposes  of 
the  eternities.  They  alone  behold  the  evidence 
and  give  evidence  of  the  presence  of  God  in 
human  affairs. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE    EVIDENTIAL   VALUE   OF   LIFE. 

Councils,  conferences,  and  conventions  usu- 
ally issue,  as  the  result  of  their  deliberations, 
elaborate  statements  of  principles  in  the  form 
of  platforms  and  resolutions.  The  first  council 
of  the  Christian  church,  however,  put  forth  a 
very  brief  circular  as  the  outcome  of  its  conclu- 
sions, albeit  the  matters  that  had  claimed  atten- 
tion were  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  life 
of  the  church,  and  had  threatened  to  rend  it 
asunder. 

Should  Gentile  converts  to  Christ  be  re- 
quired to  enter  the  church  by  the  way  of  Jewish 
ceremonialism  ?  That  was  the  question  at  issue ; 
and  the  young  church  was  divided  in  relation  to 
it.  Paul  had  gone  forth  preaching  that  circum- 
cision was  unnecessary,  that  a  man  could  become 
a  Christian  and  unite  with  the  Christian  com- 
munity without  regard  to  his  compliance  with 
Jewish  ceremonies,  indeed,  without  his  knowing 
a  thing  concerning  their  main  characteristics. 
Others  —  and  even  Peter  wavered  here  —  de- 
183 


184  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

clared  that,  since  all  the  promises  through  Abra- 
ham had  been  made  to  the  Jews,  and  the  Mes- 
siah himself  had  come  of  the  seed  of  David,  the 
royal  Jewish  descent,  it  was  necessary,  without 
exception,  to  become  a  Jew  first,  in  order  next 
to  become  a  Christian. 

The  discussion  at  this  council  in  Jerusalem 
seems  to  have  been  both  friendly  and  exhaus- 
tive. Paul  and  Barnabas  related  their  experi- 
ence in  preaching  to  Gentiles  and  receiving 
Gentiles  into  the  church.  Peter  called  to  mind 
the  vision  he  had  had  on  the  housetop,  when 
deliberating  whether,  or  not,  to  go  to  Cornelius. 
James,  as  chief  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  and 
presiding  officer  of  the  council,  expressed  his 
opinion,  and  then  the  assembly  put  its  conclu- 
sions in  the  form  of  a  letter,  to  be  sent  by 
the  hand  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  and  Judas, 
called  Barsabbas,  and  Silas.  The  letter  read 
as  follows :  — 

"  The  apostles  and  elder  brethren  unto  the  brethren 
which  are  of  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch  and  Syria  and 
Cilicia,  greeting:  Forasmuch  as  we  have  heard  that 
certain  which  went  out  from  us  have  troubled  you  with 
words,  subverting  your  souls ;  to  whom  we  gave  no  com- 
mandment ;  it  seemed  good  unto  us,  having  come  to  one 
accord,  to  choose  out  men  and  send  them  unto  you  with 
our  beloved  Barnabas  and  Paul,  men  that  have  hazarded 
their  lives  for  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     We 


THE  EVIDENTIAL   VALVE  OF  LIFE.        185 

have  sent  therefore  Judas  and  Silas,  who  themselves 
also  shall  tell  you  the  same  things  by  word  of  mouth. 
For  it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  to  lay 
upon  you  no  greater  burden  than  these  necessary  things  ; 
that  ye  abstain  from  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  from 
blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  fornication ; 
from  which  if  ye  keep  yourselves,  it  shall  be  well  with 
you.     Fare  ye  well." 

Neither  the  platform  put  forth  by  a  modern 
political  caucus  nor  the  canons  promulgated  by 
a  modern  ecumenical  council  would  be  so  brief. 
As  for  Jewish  ceremonialism,  no  burdens  were 
laid  upon  young  Christians  ;  they  might  come 
directly  into  the  church  without  circumcision 
or  other  Jewish  forms.  They  were  required  only 
to  avoid  arousing  Jewish  prejudices  by  partak- 
ing of  meats  unceremonially  slaughtered  or  dis- 
hallowed before  heathen  idols,  and  they  were  to 
keep  themselves  free  from  the  vice  of  unchastity, 
then  so  common  among  their  Gentile  neighbors. 
Further  than  this  the  whole  stress  of  the  docu- 
ment was  upon  the  men  who  bore  the  message, 
men  who  would  tell  the  tale  by  word  of  mouth, 
men  who  had  hazarded  their  lives  for  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  substance  the 
council  declared :  Men  of  worth  will  make 
known  our  decisions  and  our  spirit  better  than 
can  a  letter.  They  laid  the  emphasis,  not  upon 
what  was  stated  in  words,  but  upon  that  which 


186  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

should  be  explained  by  men.  This  emphasis  was 
a  recognition  that  in  religion  living  testimony- 
is  superior  to  documentary  evidence. 

God  has  made,  and  still  makes,  revelations 
of  himself  in  three  distinct  ways  :  He  com- 
municates directly  with  man  by  his  Spirit ;  he 
shows  himself  in  all  his  works,  this  vast  miracle 
of  his  word  which  we  call  nature  ;  and  he  re- 
veals himself  in  man.1  The  Bible  is  but  a  record 
of  some  of  the  revelations  given  through  these 
three  ways. 

There  have  been  times  when  it  was  thought 
that  God  revealed  himself  only  by  means  of 
direct  communications ;  and  nature  then  was 
supposed  to  have  no  message  from  her  Creator 
to  man.  But  the  Psalmist  recognized  the  tes- 
timony of  nature  to  God,  when  he  wrote,  "  The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God ;  and  the 
firmament  showeth  his  handiwork."  Modern 
science  confirms  daily  the  fact  of  the  divine 
presence,  in  wisdom  and  power,  in  all  this  vast 
realm  of  natural  law  and  beauty.  All  truth 
declares  the  will  of  God.  There  is,  therefore, 
a  bible  in  the  latest  work  on  science,  if  that 
work  be  true.  Every  faithful,  painstaking  in- 
vestigator of  the  works  of   God,  if  he  be  like 

1  Of  course  man  is  a  part  of  nature,  and  direct  communications 
are  a  revelation  in  man ;  and  yet  these  three  ways  have  a  certain  dis- 
tinctness. 


THE  EVIDENTIAL    VALUE  OF  LIFE.         187 

Agassiz,  regards  every  scientific  experiment 
as  a  prayer  to  God  for  knowledge  of  his  ways, 
and  every  discovery  as  an  answer  to  the  prayer. 

But  God  reveals  himself  even  more  fully  in 
man.  He  made  man  in  the  first  place  in  his 
own  image.  Man  therefore,  might  be  termed 
the  first  piece  of  sculpture  ever  made, — fash- 
ioned in  clay,  a  likeness  of  God  ;  not  in  form  and 
features,  for  God  is  a  spirit,  without  material 
form,  —  but  when  breathed  into  and  become  a 
living  spirit,  then  the  clay  took  on  characteris- 
tics of  God  and  represented,  though  but  par- 
tially, the  divine  mind.  Through  all  the  past 
God  has  sent  men  to  represent  him  and  to  make 
known  his  will.  He  has  not  attached  a  revela- 
tion in  words  of  great  Hebrew  letters,  or  in 
English  terms,  to  the  trees,  or  penciled  them  in 
flaming  characters  on  the  clouds,  or  written 
them  on  the  wide  waters  of  the  seas,  or  graven 
them  on  the  rocks,  —  all  this  he  might  have 
done  ;  but  he  has  sent  man  to  speak  to  man, 
himself  first  giving  the  word  to  man,  as  man 
himself  could  receive  it. 

Moses  and  Joshua  and  Samuel  and  Elijah  and 
Elisha  and  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  and  all  the 
prophets  came  as  men  to  men,  bearing  the  word 
of  God.  Moses  received  the  spoken  word  be- 
fore the  two  tables  of  stone  were  committed  to 
him  as  memoranda. 


188  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

Indeed,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  the  God-man 
came,  Jesus  Christ.  No  better  way  in  heaven's 
wisdom  could  be  devised  for  a  revelation  to  man 
than  by  man.  The  incarnation,  the  advent,  that 
night  in  Bethlehem,  and  all  the  varied  vicissi- 
tudes of  thirty-three  years  in  Galilee  and  Judea 
and  Samaria  were  owing  to  the  fact  that  man 
is  the  best  exponent  of  God  to  man.  When 
the  divine  mind  would  write  a  revelation  capa- 
ble of  human  comprehension,  then  is  earth  the 
parchment,  flesh  and  blood  the  ink,  and  all  the 
opportunities  of  time  the  pen. 

We  understand  in  daily  life  the  value  of  per- 
sonal conversation.  In  coming  to  a  business 
understanding  with  a  man,  a  five-minute  inter- 
view is  worth  a  score  of  written  pages.  For 
the  same  purpose  the  telephone  is  worth  more 
than  the  telegraph,  for  it  allows  the  exchange  of 
question  and  answer,  of  tones  and  inflections, 
of  moods  and  intentions,  thus  imparting  more 
of  personality.  The  printing-press  can  never 
supplant  the  pulpit  and  the  platform.  The  pul- 
pit and  the  platform  show  a  man,  thinking, 
speaking,  living,  and  by  his  very  presence  and 
life  giving  forth  influence  unto  men.  The 
printed  page  carries  a  smaller  part  of  person- 
ality, merely  the  thought,  sometimes  colored  by 
feeling,  sometimes  inspiring  and  convincing,  but 
never  an  adequate  exponent  of  the  personality 


THE  EVIDENTIAL   VALUE  OF  LIFE.        189 

behind  the  language.  Man  is  the  best  means 
of  revelation  to  man,  and  the  better  the  man, 
the  better  the  means.  Thirty-three  years  of 
Jesus  Christ  on  earth  is  worth  more  to  the  world 
than  thirty  centuries  of  prophets  and  apostles. 

I  saw  once,  in  parallel  columns,  the  opinions 
of  two  eminent  men.  One  maintained  that  in 
politics  principles  were  the  great,  the  only  con- 
sideration to  have  in  mind  ;  given  the  right 
principles  in  a  party  platform,  it  mattered  little 
who  the  candidates  of  the  party  might  be  ;  a 
vote  was  a  vote  for  the  prinicples.  The  other 
man  maintained  that  the  principles  of  a  party 
were  subordinate  to  the  men  nominated  by  the 
party ;  that  the  men  interpreted  and,  therefore, 
expressed  the  principles,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  vote  for  principles  apart  from  the  men  repre- 
senting them;  that  the  men  must  be  right. 
Which  of  these  two  reasoned  correctly  ?  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying,  the  latter. 

No  party  is  better  than  the  men  it  has  in 
office,  whatever  its  principles  and  platform  may 
be.  Let  an  official  pin  the  ten  commandments 
on  his  breast  and  carry  the  Bible  in  his  pocket 
and  talk  the  phrases  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  and 
yet,  if  he  is  a  thief,  he  will  steal.  Let  him 
espouse  the  moral  laws  that  appeal  to  the  con- 
science of  the  community,  yet  if  he  is  himself 
addicted  to  immoralities,  if  he  is  open  to  corrup- 


190  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

tion  on  the  part  of  law-breakers,  he  will  allow 
violation  and  defiance  of  law,  whenever  his  per- 
sonal passion  or  greed  are  served. 

It  is  men  who  make  politics  more  than  princi- 
ples. It  is  men  who  give  good  government 
more  than  parties.  It  is  men  who  institute 
reforms  and  conduct  reforms,  and  build  right- 
eously ;  it  is  not  an  intangible  sentiment  that 
can  be  written  upon  a  piece  of  paper,  like  a  set 
of  resolutions,  or  a  platform.  Hon.  Carl  Schurz 
is  credited  with  saying  at  a  conference  of  Good 
Government  Leagues  something  to  this  effect : 
"  If  you  have  an  ideal  city  charter  and  ordi- 
nances, yet  put  Lucifer  in  charge,  you  will  have 
bad  government ;  while,  with  a  very  imperfect 
charter  and  ordinances,  with  Gabriel  administer- 
ing affairs,  you  will  yet  have  good  government." 

For  good  government  we  must  select  good 
men.  More  depends  upon  Gabriel,  or  Lucifer, 
than  upon  law  and  ordinances.  It  matters  but 
little  whether,  for  municipal  government,  a 
man  be  republican,  democrat,  prohibitionist, 
mugwump,  or  populist,  provided  he  be  honest, 
competent,  and  reliable.  To  rectify  mismanage- 
ment and  control  the  governments  that  effect 
our  homes,  happiness,  and  well-being,  we  must 
watch  men  more  than  mere  party  professions. 

How  shall  we  improve  the  conditions  of 
society  ?      How  often   this   question  confronts 


THE  EVIDENTIAL   VALUE  OF  LIFE.        191 

us  to-day  !  Every  labor  disturbance,  whether  in 
the  East  or  the  West,  the  North  or  the  South, 
raises  the  question  anew  and  brands  it  on  our 
consciences.  How  improve  the  condition  of  the 
laborer?  how  equalize  possessions  ?  how  restore 
industrial  peace  and  social  good-will  ?  The 
questions  are  open ;  the  problems  are  unsolved. 

While  gains  may  be  expected  along  the  line 
of  legislation  and  by  boards  of  arbitration  and 
by  organized  compromises,  yet  the  final  solution 
is  to  be  looked  for  chiefly  in  the  gradual  im- 
provement of  the  individual  man.  This  is  a 
slow  way,  an  old-fashioned  way,  but  a  sure  way. 
The  circumstances  of  the  laborer  may  be  hard, 
but  the  laborer  himself  often  needs  greater 
change  and  improvement  than  his  circum- 
stances. Lift  him  as  a  man,  and  he  will  im- 
prove his  conditions  himself.  Set  him  to 
climbing,  and  he  will  carry  his  environment 
with  him,  as  the  snail  takes  his  house  upon  his 
back.  The  reformation  of  society  lies  in  the 
reformation  of  the  individual  man.  The  history 
of  our  country  shows  that  our  great  men  are 
those  who  have  overcome  circumstances  by  first 
overcoming  themselves. 

This  truth  pertains  still  more  pertinently 
to  the  church.  It  is  men  who  make  the  church 
more  than  creeds.  Not  all  Christians  realize 
this.     Some  think   that  if  the  creed  be  right, 


192  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

then  the  church  is  of  necessity  right.  Alas  ! 
men  have  labored  on  creeds,  and  disputed  about 
creeds,  and  wrangled,  and  fought,  and  shown 
themselves  very  unlike  their  divine  pattern, 
Christ ;  and  the  church,  whatever  the  creed  re- 
sulting, has  been  a  very  poor  church  with  such 
conduct. 

Jesus  Christ  did  not  take  a  creed  and  say, 
"  On  this  rock  will  I  found  my  church."  We 
might  cease  all  intellectual  activity,  the  moment 
we  enter  the  Christian  church,  had  he  so  done. 
But  he  took  a  man,  —  an  ordinary  kind  of  a 
man,  too,  of  an  impulsive  nature,  who  was  up 
to-day  and  down  to-morrow,  —  and  said  in  intent, 
"  On  this  rock  will  I  build  my  church  ;  on  weak 
human  nature,  like  thine,  Peter,  yet  human 
nature  capable  of  becoming  solid  and  firm,  like 
a  rock,  Peter,  as  thou  hereafter  wilt  become ;  on 
this  rock  I  build  my  church." 

The  Christian  church  consists  of  character 
and  conduct  more  than  creed.  When  Jesus 
was  crucified,  he  left  no  written  resolutions 
behind,  no  charters,  constitutions,  bylaws,  ordi- 
nances, canonical  laws,  —  nothing  in  writing. 
All  the  writing  he  ever  did,  so  far  as  reported, 
was  on  the  sand.  He  left  nothing  behind  but 
men,  and  his  spirit  operative  in  them.  What  a 
legacy  for  the  church  ! 

The  apostles,  also,  had  not  a  scrap  of  writing 


THE  EVIDENTIAL    VALUE  OF  LIFE.        193 

such  as  we  now  possess  in  the  New  Testament 
for  at  least  a  score  of  years  after  the  cruci- 
fixion. They  went  about  preaching.  Gospels, 
epistles,  history  of  the  acts  of  the  apostles: 
they  were  making  these  things ;  they  were 
themselves  the  world's  New  Testament  then ; 
they  were  the  epistles  known  and  read  of  men. 

Jesus  did  not  come  to  bring  a  Zend  Avesta, 
a  Koran,  or  a  Bible  even  ;  he  came  to  give  life. 
His  last  great  commission  rests  wholly  upon 
character  and  conduct,  upon  life,  his  life  through 
the  lives  of  the  apostles  affecting  men. 

Wherever  the  early  disciples  went,  men 
believed  in  Christ  and  partook  of  the  new  life. 
It  was  not  because  the  disciples  carried  with 
them  creeds  or  tracts  or  Bibles  even,  but  because 
they  carried  the  life  within  themselves,  and  this 
life  communicated  itself  to  others.  So  has  it 
been  always.  Where  the  life  is,  there  it  mani- 
fests itself.  No  church  has  a  monopoly.  In  all 
communions,  about  a  saintly  man  there  is  soon 
found  a  garden  of  saintliness.  So  has  it  been 
with  Francis  of  Assisi,  Bernard  of  Clairvaux, 
Thomas  a  Kempis,  Brother  Lawrence,  and  mul- 
titudes of  others. 

We  need  have  no  quarrel  with  any  church  or 
sect  not  our  own.  Creeds  are  attempts  at  an 
intellectual  definition  and  explanation  of  the 
contents   of   Christianity;  let  men   hold  their 


194  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

creeds ;  let  us  ask  only  that  they  evince  the 
Christ-like  life  in  word  and  work  and  thought. 
Life  is  more  convincing  than  argument.  The 
church  truest  to  the  divine  pattern  will  eventu- 
ally win  the  allegiance  of  men.  The  tree  with 
the  best  fruit  will  be  cultivated  in  the  orchard. 
To  prove  her  divine  calling  the  Church  must 
show  her  divine  character.  To  be  Christ-like 
is  to  be  apostolic. 

Life  always  gives  weight  to  words.  The 
devil  quoted  Scripture  in  the  temptation,  but 
won  no  convert,  because  of  what  he  was  and 
whom  he  addressed.  No  preacher's  utterances 
carry  greater  weight  than  the  force  of  the  per- 
sonality behind  them,  either  imputed  or  actually 
existing.  Every  preacher  must  confess  with 
the  utmost  humility :  "  It  is  I  that  speak  more 
than  my  brain  or  tongue ;  and  it  is  not  the 
I  that  I  would  be,  or  imagine  myself  to  be,  or 
perchance  sometime  may  be,  but  it  is  the  I 
that  I  am  now  ;  that  and  little  else  that  I  may 
say  has  force."  Rhetoric  and  illustration,  logic 
and  clearness  have  their  values ;  but  life  alone 
has  power. 

In  social  gatherings,  either  of  the  church,  or 
of  the  home,  it  matters  little  whether  words  be 
finely  put  or  very  faultily  phrased ;  the  man  or 
woman  who  is  earnest,  sincere,  and  true  im- 
presses us  and  does  us  good.     It  is  character 


THE  EVIDENTIAL   VALUE  OF  LIFE.        195 

that  tells  more  than  profession.  Would  a  man 
do  good  ?  Then  must  he  be  good.  Would  he 
speak  like  angels  ?  then  must  he  live  like  an- 
gels. The  life  both  discerns  and  reveals  God. 
Character  obtains  and  character  imparts  power 
from  above. 

The  great  argument  of  Christianity  through 
all  time  has  been  Christian  living.  Learned 
works  do  not  convince  the  world  of  the  reality 
of  the  Christian  religion,  as  do  piety  and  faith 
and  faithfulness.  The  reality  of  life  cannot 
be  questioned.  Nor  can  it  really  be  counter- 
feited. The  semblance  lacks  genuineness,  and 
deceives  few.  But  all  the  unbelievers  in  the 
world  cannot  answer  the  argument  of  Christian 
living. 

The  first  church  did  wisely  in  sending  forth, 
as  their  representatives,  to  allay  trouble  and 
smooth  out  difficulties,  men  who  had  hazarded 
their  lives  for  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  Theirs 
is  an  example  for  the  present.  The  heathen 
nations  and  tribes  of  the  earth  must  receive 
more  than  the  institutions  of  religion  ;  they 
must  have  men  to  arouse,  instruct,  inspire. 
Even  that  enlightened  eunuch,  who  sat  in  his 
chariot  reading  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah, 
could  not  understand  the  Scriptures  until  Philip 
came,  and,  in  friendly  fashion,  sitting  beside 
him   in  the    chariot,    explained    the    passage. 


196  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

"  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest  ?  * 
asked  Philip.  "How  can  I,"  replied  the  eu- 
nuch, "  except  some  one  shall  guide  me  ? " 
Personal  guidance  the  heathen  world  needs. 

We  must  still  supply  ministers  to  pulpits, 
visitors  for  the  poor,  and  sympathizers  for  all 
the  suffering.  It  is  impossible  to  relieve  the 
heart  of  distress  by  any  mechanical  appliance. 
No  modern  invention  can  supplant  personal 
effort  in  fulfilling  the  second  great  command- 
ment, "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self." 

Every  Christian  is  an  instrument  of  God  for 
revelation  and  righteousness  in  the  world.  He 
cannot  delegate  his  responsibility  to  another. 
Each  must  render  his  own  part.  The  Christian 
disciple  has  the  ability,  however  few  or  many 
may  be  his  talents,  however  humble  or  exalted 
his  lot,  to  reveal  the  mind  of  God  to  his  fellows, 
and  thus  to  be  in  the  line  of  revelation  which 
has  been  from  Adam's  day.  However  timid 
and  fearful  the  disciple  may  be,  still  he  has  an 
opportunity,  in  the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth 
century  of  demonstrating  to  men  the  reality 
of  the  divine  in-coming,  and  the  efficacy  of 
the  life  which  is  lived  in  Christ.  By  his  Chris- 
tian character  a  man  can  do  for  the  church 
he  loves  what  neither  books  nor  papers,  ser- 
mons, societies,  nor  organizations  can  do  with- 


THE  EVIDENTIAL    VALUE  OF  LIFE.        197 

out  him  or  his  personal  influence  ;  he  can  attract 
men,  persuade  men,  convince  men.  He  has 
the  power  of  life. 

The  practical  exhortation,  therefore,  is  in 
order  for  all.  Christians  to-day  are  not  in  perils 
as  were  the  prophets  and  apostles  of  old.  Mob 
violence,  stoning,  hanging,  or  death  from  sword 
or  fire  are  far  from  most.  Few  need  risk  life  in 
foreign  lands  or  on  boisterous  seas.  The  hazard 
men  face  is  the  hazard  of  a  possible  ridicule,  a 
possible  scorn  or  lack  of  sympathy,  a  possible 
alienation  of  friends,  —  merely  possible,  scarcely 
probable,  —  but  they  do  face  the  necessity  of 
self-denial,  of  earnestness,  of  watchfulness,  of 
constancy.  Yet  so  much  they  ought  surely  to 
hazard. 

Cannot  a  man  realize  more  clearly  the  mis- 
sion he  should  fill  as  a  revealer  of  righteous- 
ness unto  others  ?  When  the  temptations  of 
business  and  daily  toil  confront  him,  can  he  not 
say,  "No,"  for  Jesus'  sake,  and  no  less  for  the 
sake  of  his  business  associates  ?  When  the 
appetites  and  passions  of  the  flesh  assail,  can  he 
not  suppress  them  for  Jesus'  sake,  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives  ?  When 
the  meanness  and  sordidness  of  self-seeking  and 
pride  threaten  to  submerge  one,  can  he  not 
struggle  yet  a  little  harder  to  withstand  them, 
for  Jesus'  sake,  and  for  the  good  of  the  world? 


198  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

When  peevishness  and  pettishness  and  anger 
prompt  to  cross  words  and  unkind  deeds  at 
home  and  among  friends  and  loved  ones,  can 
not  the  Christian  still,  for  the  name  of  Jesus, 
and  for  the  happiness  of  those  he  loves,  turn 
his  bitterness  into  pleasantness  and  his  frowns 
into  smiles  ? 

Surely  it  is  worth  trying,  trying  yet  again 
and  with  redoubled  effort ;  for  character  may 
become  eloquent  with  messages  of  divine 
grace ;  conduct  may  be  more  than  logic  to 
men ;  life  may  be  the  revelation  of  God  to  our 
fellowmen.  The  method  we  employ  may  be 
the  Master's  method  promotive  of  his  peace 
on  earth. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

PROMOTERS    OF    PEACE. 

When  our  Lord  pronounced  the  beatitude, 
"  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers :  for  they  shall 
be  called  sons  of  God,"  obviously  he  did  not 
mean  that  they  are  the  children  of  God  who 
by  bluster  and  blows  terrify  or  subdue  warring 
factions  into  silence,  albeit  peace  results  from 
their  efforts.  The  big  bully  who  with  clinched 
fists  lays  low  each  of  two  quarreling  boys, 
though  a  peacemaker,  is  not,  we  would  all 
agree,  thereby  a  child  of  God.  Nor  is  the 
impatient  mother  in  any  degree  divine,  who 
shakes  her  children  roughly  and  scolds  them 
into  silence. 

A  dead  Indian  may  be  a  peaceful  Indian, 
yet  killing  him  is  not  the  proper  way  of  pro- 
moting peace.  By  slaying  thousands  of  cruel 
savages,  neither  men  nor  governments  can  fit 
themselves  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Germany  in  their  schemes  for 
the  partition  and  colonization  of  India,  Africa, 
China,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea,  may  by  the 
199 


200  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

might  of  armies  and  navies  preserve  peace, 
without  deserving  in  any  measure  the  eulogy 
of  the  Master,  and  without  developing  in  any 
degree  the  characteristics  of  God's  children. 
Those  statesmen  who  declare  that  the  mainte- 
nance of  great  standing  armies  is  but  a  peace 
measure,  do  not  thereby  display  heavenly 
virtues. 

At  the  birth  of  Jesus  the  angels  sang, 
"Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth 
peace  among  men  in  whom  he  is  well  pleased." 
Jesus  himself  said,  "  Peace  I  leave  with  you  ; 
my  peace  I  give  unto  you  :  not  as  the  world 
giveth,  give  I  unto  you."  The  Son  of  God 
came  indeed  to  bring  peace,  but  yet  it  was  a 
peculiar  peace ;  it  was  not  a  peace  of  the 
worldly  sort,  not  a  peace  that  came  from  the 
exercise  of  superior  force  or  from  effective 
domination. 

Peace  of  one  kind  Jesus  had  nothing  to  do 
with :  "  I  came  not  to  bring  peace,  but  a 
sword."  He  had  no  sympathy  with  those  who 
cried  "Peace,  peace !"  when  there  was  no  peace. 
Under  certain  conditions  he  set  a  father  at 
variance  with  his  son,  put  mother  and  daughter 
in  antagonism,  and  made  foes  within  a  house- 
hold circle.  Even  in  the  list  of  beatitudes  he 
recognizes  the  existence  of  intense  and  active 
antipathies,  which  allow  no  place  for  the  cessa- 


PROMOTERS  OF  PEACE.  201 

tion  of  hostilities  and  the  return  of  kindly  feel- 
ing :  "  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  reproach 
you,  and  persecute  you,  and  say  all  manner  of 
evil  against  you  falsely,  for  my  sake.  Rejoice 
and  be  exceeding  glad  :  for  great  is  your  reward 
in  heaven  :  for  so  persecuted  they  the  prophets 
which  were  before  you."  This  signifies  war- 
fare, not  peace,  —  warfare  between  the  good 
and  the  evil. 

We  must  recognize  at  least  three  distinct 
kinds  of  peace,  which  may  be  characterized  as 
follows:  the  first,  the  peace  of  surrender; the 
second,  the  peace  of  indifference ;  and  the 
third,  the  peace  of  right  relations. 

The  peace  of  surrender  many  a  battlefield 
has  known,  when  one  of  its  great  armies,  deci- 
mated, discouraged,  defeated,  has  accepted  the 
terms  of  capitulation,  laid  down  arms,  given  up 
the  object  for  which  it  fought,  and  found  rest 
from  carnage. 

On  the  battlefield  of  life  are  many  souls 
daily  purchasing  peace  at  this  price.  We  see 
a  young  man,  away  from  home,  toiling  early 
and  late  in  an  humble  position,  lodging 
alone  within  four  dismal  walls ;  to  him  life  at 
length  becomes  monotonous  and  humdrum ; 
the  soul  craves  excitement.  Though  long 
sober  and  steady,  long  resisting  the  allure- 
ments of  saloon  and  low  entertainment  hall,  at 


202  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

length  he  quiets  his  restlessness,  yields  to  the 
cravings  of  his  lower  nature,  and  surrenders  up 
his  best  manhood.  All  his  previous  struggles 
and  labors  he  throws  away.  He  finds  a  mo- 
mentary peace ;  but  at  what  a  fearful  cost ! 

In  our  great  cities,  young,  unprotected, 
seeking  diligently  a  hard-earned  and  scant  live- 
lihood, many  a  girl  finds  the  struggle  to  main- 
tain her  purity  and  innocence  too  hard,  and 
yields  to  the  evil  so  abundant  and  so  persis- 
tent about  her,  for  the  sake  of  a  little  ease, 
or  pleasure,  or  peace,  as  her  foolish  heart  may 
call  it. 

Two  friends  meet  together  and  discuss  the 
great  problems  of  life,  speaking  of  God,  truth, 
and  religion.  One  is  shrewd,  crafty,  skeptical ; 
the  other,  honest,  ingenuous,  devout.  They 
argue.  The  memory  of  one  has  been  stored 
with  quotations  and  authorities  which  amaze 
and  perplex  the  other,  who  knows  only  what 
his  heart  has  taught  him.  Bewildered,  and  at  a 
loss  for  a  reply,  the  latter  yields  at  last  to  the 
insistent  sophistries  of  his  friend.  Argument 
then  ceases ;  it  is  peace,  but  at  the  price  of 
defeat  and  surrender. 

Many  a  home  circle  experiences  a  similar 
tragedy  of  faith.  A  man  and  a  woman,  from 
different  homes,  with  different  degrees  of  con- 
viction in  regard  to  many  social  customs  and 


PROMOTERS  OF  PEACE.  203 

many  fundamental  tenets  of  faith,  unite  for- 
tunes to  found  a  new  home.  After  frequent 
periods  of  contention,  good-natured  though 
they  be,  the  stronger  will  wins  and  the  weaker, 
for  the  sake  of  peace,  gives  way.  But  awful  is 
the  peace  not  approved  by  conscience. 

The  peace  of  surrender  is  sometimes  due  to 
cowardice,  sometimes  to  discouragement,  some- 
times to  sheer  physical  and  mental  exhaustion. 
But  whatever  its  cause,  its  effects  are  but  tem- 
porary ;  it  is  not  an  abiding  peace ;  it  is  loss  ; 
it  brings  soon  in  its  train  sadness  and  sorrow  ; 
it  is  not  the  peace  which  Jesus  introduced  to 
the  world.  They  who  seek  this  kind  of  peace 
are  not  peacemakers  approved  of  God,  worthy 
to  be  called  the  children  of  God. 

A  surrender  to  iniquity  will  never  obtain 
the  peace  of  righteousness.  Woe  unto  them 
who  yield  to  the  enticements  of  evil,  for,  though 
thinking  that  they  shall  obtain  the  solace  of 
their  evil  desires,  they  shall  at  the  end  but 
drink  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  the  dregs 
of  disappointment  and  remorse.  Cursed  are 
those  peacemakers  of  this  worldly  sort,  for 
they  shall  be  at  last  known  as  Satan's  own 
offspring.  Peacemaking  is  not  cowardly  or 
mean  surrender,  any  more  than  it  is  bluster 
and  bullying. 

The  peace  of  indifference  particularly  char- 


204  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

acterized  the  time  of  Jesus.  It  was  against 
this  that  he  brought  the  sword.  Many  were 
self-righteous,  indifferent  to  the  offers  of  a 
greater  good,  careless  and  supercilious  toward 
the  Messiah. 

The  world  abounds  ever  in  those  who  are 
seeking  this  kind  of  peace.  "  It  is  hard  to  re- 
sist evil,"  they  say ;  "  indeed,  it  is  not  worth 
while ;  let  it  alone ;  matters  will  come  out  all 
right  in  the  end."  And  so  they  are  indifferent 
to  all  manner  of  wrong  and  iniquity.  They 
condone  the  sowing  of  wild  oats ;  they  extenu- 
ate peccadilloes  and  lapses ;  they  wink  at  social 
evils,  political  corruption,  and  official  incom- 
petency. It  is  easier  to  leave  abuses  alone 
than  to  resist  and  try  to  reform  them.  "  Let 
well  enough  alone,"  is  their  plea.  "  Do  not  be 
impractical,"  they  urge.  "  You  will  stir  up 
needless  opposition,"  they  warn.  "  It  has 
always  been  this  way  and  always  will  be,"  they 
declare.  And  so  they  fashion  excuses,  relieve 
themselves  of  responsibility  and  settle  down  to 
a  feeling  of  personal  indifference  towards  the 
wrongs  of  the  day,  the  discords  and  the  strifes 
among  men. 

I  have  seen  a  mother,  whose  love  for  her 
child  no  one  could  doubt,  so  careless  of  the 
child's  welfare  that  his  physical  and  his  moral 
nature  were  both  hourly  in  danger  of  irreparable 


PROMOTERS  OF  PEACE.  205 

injury.  If  he  ran  into  danger,  she  did  not  like 
to  forbid  him,  for  "  probably  he  would  come  out 
all  right,"  she  reasoned.  If  he  disobeyed  her, 
she  took  no  pains  to  correct  him,  for  "  Josie 
was  a  good  boy  and  wouldn't  do  it  again,"  and 
she  did  not  like  to  cross  him. 

As  I  have  seen  parents  surrender  to  a  child's 
tears,  so  I  have  seen  them  hopefully,  optimisti- 
cally ignorant  of  all  that  the  child  was  doing. 
"Jennie  may  run  on  the  streets  :  I  do  not  like 
to  keep  her  too  close ;  the  poor  girl  must  have 
some  liberties  ;  she  will  be  all  right ;  "  so  reasons 
too  frequently  the  fond  mother,  yielding  easily 
to  the  peace  of  indifference  ;  or,  "  Tommy  is 
out  late  nights,  I  know,  but  I  think  no  harm 
will  come  of  it ;  he  likes  to  have  his  own  way, 
and  it  might  be  worse  if  I  should  say  anything 
about  it."  Alas  !  sometimes  this  is  all  a  mother 
can  do ;  but  at  other  times  it  is  the  makeshift 
excuse  of  a  maternal  laissez-faire  principle, 
seeking  the  easy  peace  of  careless  indifference. 

Easy-going  indifference  sometimes  assumes 
the  garb  of  charity,  and  secures  for  itself  praise. 
It  is  easy  to  give  to  a  beggar  a  nickel,  when 
nickels  are  abundant ;  but  what  virtue  is  there 
in  the  gift  when  the  one  intention  is  to  be  rid 
of  the  beggar  ?  "  I  do  not  want  to  be  troubled," 
is  the  actuating  motive.  For  a  housekeeper 
to  furnish  the  tramp  a  dinner  at  her  back  door 


206  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

occasions  probably  the  least  trouble  for  either 
her  or  the  man  of  the  house ;  but  the  dinner 
does  not  help  society  in  its  solution  of  the 
problem  of  vagrancy.  It  is  easy  as  a  policy  for 
a  city  or  town  or  county  or  state  to  say  to  all 
vagrants  and  to  all  criminals,  "You  may  go 
free,  if  you  will  leave  us  alone  ;  move  on  !  "  In 
times  past  it  has  been  comparatively  easy  for 
England  to  rid  herself  of  paupers  and  convicts 
by  transporting  them  to  Australia  and  "  assist- 
ing "  them  to  America ;  but  are  such  methods 
right  methods  of  securing  peace  ?  They  are  not 
the  sons  of  God  who  say  to  all  iniquity,  vice, 
disorder,  and  obnoxiousness,  "  Move  on  —  Out 
of  my  sight  —  Let  me  alone  —  Give  me  peace." 

A  man  with  a  guilty  conscience  may  relieve 
his  pangs  of  remorse  by  plunging  into  pleas- 
ure or  by  drowning  his  sorrows  in  the  cup.  A 
sinner  may  soothe  his  soul  by  putting  away 
seriousness.  Indeed,  by  a  purely  subjective, 
intellectual  process,  a  man  may  reason  out, 
wholly  by  himself,  terms  of  peace  between  him- 
self and  God,  without  taking  God  into  the 
account  at  all. 

But  true  peacemaking  is  a  deeper,  more  seri- 
ous task  than  any  of  these  superficial  expedi- 
ents imply.  There  really  is  no  peace  unless 
right  relations  are  observed.  A  quack  may 
deaden  a  pain,  but  a  genuine  physician  heals 


PROMOTERS  OF  PEACE.  207 

the  complaint  by  removing  the  cause.  A  police- 
man may  order  a  beggar  to  move  off,  but  a 
philanthropist,  a  real  lover  of  man,  seeking  the 
cause  of  poverty,  will  try  to  remedy  it  at  its 
seat.  A  pettifogger  will  twist  and  turn  the  law 
for  a  special  interpretation,  but  a  great  lawyer 
will  look  deep  down  for  principles,  and  counsel 
his  client  according  to  the  true  ends  of  justice. 
A  perfunctionary  teacher  may,  by  severity  and 
sternness,  keep  order  in  the  schoolroom  and 
"  hear  lessons,"  while  a  loving  teacher,  a  genius 
at  teaching,  will  study  the  attainments  and  pos- 
sibilities of  each  pupil,  adapting  and  explaining 
as  each  requires,  and,  inspiring  all,  will  have 
attention  and  quietness  as  a  perfectly  natural 
condition  of  the  schoolroom.  A  foolish,  indul- 
gent parent  will  permit  sweetmeats,  and  allow 
privileges  which  are  hurtful  to  the  child,  while 
a  wise  mother  or  father,  in  close  sympathy  with 
the  child,  always  directs  the  appetites  and  de- 
sires of  the  little  one,  so  that  after  a  while,  he 
more  than  half  controls  himself,  acquiring  new 
wisdom  daily. 

True  peace  must  rest  on  right  relations. 
Wendell  Phillips,  in  his  large,  bold  hand,  once 
wrote  in  my  autograph-book,  "Peace,  if  pos- 
sible; justice  at  any  rate."  Were  Phillips  and 
Garrison  and  John  Brown  peacemakers  ?  They 
were  seeking  right  relations ;  they  were  bent 


208  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

on  securing  justice  and  freedom  for  all.  Were 
those  others  peacemakers  who  urged  compro- 
mise and  compliance,  who  deplored  war  and  were 
willing  to  give  up  anything  rather  than  resort 
to  arms?  Warfare  and  carnage  are  terrible 
woes  to  a  land ;  but  injustice,  falseness  in  the 
social  fabric,  and  continued  wrong  relations  are 
worse. 

Blessed  are  those  who  set  relations  right ; 
blessed  are  those  who  improve  conditions ; 
blessed  are  those  who  dig  down  to  the  founda- 
tions of  truth  and  justice  and  build  thereon  ; 
for  all  such  build  as  God  builds,  act  as  he  acts, 
and  fulfill  his  purposes  ;  they  are  worthy  to  be 
called  the  sons  of  God. 

Love  of  truth  is  the  chief  characteristic  of 
a  genuine  peacemaker.  He  does  not  count 
himself  the  measuring  rod  for  all  about  him  ; 
he  tries  to  see  things  as  they  are.  He  does 
not  assume  that  his  little  brain  contains  all 
wisdom ;  but  outside  of  himself,  in  man,  in 
things  about  him,  in  God  above  him,  are  prin- 
ciples and  influences  to  which  he  must  con- 
form ;  these  he  must  know ;  he  must  have 
knowledge  of  conditions  as  they  are.  Fact  and 
truth  above  all  else  he  seeks.  How  else  can  he 
introduce  right  relations  ? 

Peace  cannot  be  founded  upon  falsehood  any 
more  than  a  secure  house  can  be  built  upon  the 


PROMOTERS  OF  PEACE.  209 

crater  of  a  volcano.  Falsehood  will  not  remain 
still ;  it  seethes,  it  boils,  it  bursts  forth.  A  lie 
will  out,  for  it  is  not  in  right  relations  to  any 
abiding  fact ;  all  that  rests  upon  it  topples  and 
slips.  There  is  no  peace  in  lies ;  there  is  no 
permanency  in  error.  Truth  alone  can  stand ; 
truth  alone  is  sure. 

Blessed  are  the  permanency-makers,  for  they 
shall  be  called  like  unto  God ;  blessed  are  they, 
because  they  so  adjust  men  and  things  as  to 
leave  their  work  well  done,  not  needing  rectifi- 
cation, being  founded  upon  truth  where  it  may 
abide.  Blessed  are  those  whose  lives  fit  har- 
moniously into  their  surroundings,  filling  gaps, 
bridging  chasms,  supplying  deficiences,  mak- 
ing the  life  of  society  about  them  smooth,  firm, 
more  solid,  more  happy,  more  contented,  adding 
character  to  their  little  world  ;  they,  though  at 
length  going,  or  dying,  yet  abide,  for  they  have 
builded  upon  truth ;  they  are  peacemakers. 

A  second  characteristic  of  a  genuine  peace- 
maker is  gentleness.  Gentleness  has  yet  great 
achievements  to  win  in  the  world.  We  scold 
and  bluster,  we  worry  and  fret,  but  in  this  way 
do  we  secure  peace  ?  By  so  doing,  do  we  allay 
trouble  and  alleviate  distress,  or  lessen  by  one 
iota  the  discords  of  the  world  ?  God's  ways  are 
ways  of  gentleness.  "Thy  gentleness  hath 
made  me  great,"  sang  the  Psalmist.     A  quiet 


210  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

answer  turns  away  wrath ;  gentleness  soothes 
and  calms  disquieted  spirits. 

Gentleness  is  efficacious  because  it  implies 
self-control.  No  one  can  be  gentle  and  tender 
of  touch  unless  the  hand  be  steady,  the  nerves 
calm,  and  all  the  muscles  in  complete  subjection 
to  the  will.  No  one  can  be  gentle  and  tender 
of  speech  unless  the  mind  be  calm,  the  passions 
still,  the  thoughts  active  and  deliberate.  Gen- 
tleness indicates  self-mastery ;  it  is  a  greater 
proof  of  strength  than  roughness  and  rudeness, 
though  thoughtless  people  do  not  so  regard  it. 
Any  soul  can  fly  into  a  passion.  It  is  a  stronger 
soul,  however,  that  checks  the  passion,  subdues 
anger,  and,  under  whatsoever  provocation,  con- 
tinues calm  and  quiet.  They  who  are  gentle 
keep  peace  within ;  then  they  are  able  to  pro- 
mote peace  without. 

Gentleness  wins  its  way  ;  it  obtains  a  hearing 
as  does  nothing  else.  Noise  and  bluster,  pas- 
sion and  rant  may  monopolize  attention  for  a 
season ;  but  gentleness  succeeds  and  stays. 
Blessed,  then,  are  the  gentle,  for  they  do  good 
to  all  about  them ;  holding  quiet  restraint  upon 
themselves,  they  call  a  halt  to  the  wrangling 
and  excitement  of  turbulent  disputants ;  they 
pour  in  the  oil  of  calm  reason,  they  mix  the 
myrrh  of  considerateness,  they  bind  up  wounded 
hearts  with  sympathy  and  love.     Blessed  are 


PROMOTERS  OF  PEACE.  211 

they  who  promote  gentleness,  for  they  partake 
of  the  characteristics  of  God. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  genuine  peace- 
makers is  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice.  No  one 
produces  peace  in  the  community  by  sitting  in 
his  home  and  simply  wishing  well  to  the  world. 
He  must  go  forth  and  give  of  himself  to  the 
world.  Gentleness  must  not  be  thought  of  as 
passive  do-nothing-ness.  Love  of  truth  and 
gentleness  should  not  produce  inactivity.  The 
one  indicates  allegiance  to  fact ;  the  other  indi- 
cates a  method.  But  what  are  fact  and  method 
unless  employed  ?  Of  what  avail  are  drugs  on 
the  apothecary's  shelves  and  a  prescription 
wisely  penned  by  the  physician,  unless  the 
patient  has  the  prescription  filled  and  takes  the 
medicine  ? 

Love  of  truth  and  gentleness  must  be  applied ; 
they  must  combine  in  self-sacrifice.  Wishes 
alone  never  make  peace ;  prayers  alone  cannot 
produce  it.  Peacemaking  comes  from  personal 
effort.  "  Peace,  if  possible ;  justice  at  any 
rate : "  that  is  a  martyr's  battle-cry.  That 
means  peace  only  on  the  foundation  of  truth, 
cost  what  it  may  ;  time,  effort,  life  itself,  —  all 
may  go  into  the  payment,  but  peace,  peace 
founded  upon  truth,  must  come. 

In  its  treatment  of  social  disorders,  industrial 
strifes,  class  contentions  and  political  machina- 


212  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

tions,  society  has  already  evinced  an  earnest 
devotion  for  truth  in  investigating  actual  condi- 
tions and  trying  to  come  at  the  fundamental 
facts,  and  has  adopted  also  the  method  of  gen- 
tleness through  agitation,  organization,  educa- 
tion, legislation,  and  arbitration.  And  yet  society 
has  not  yet  reached  the  point  of  sacrificing  self ; 
statesmen  and  politicians,  governors  and  legis- 
lators have  not  yet  become  social  peacemakers 
to  this  extent ;  efforts  and  sacrifices  they  leave 
too  largely  to  others.  But  altruism,  as  an  active 
principle  of  conduct,  must  be  still  more  com- 
pletely triumphant  over  egoism  before  the  per- 
fect reign  of  peace  on  earth  can  be  ushered  in. 
Peacemaking,  even  in  its  partial  and  incom- 
plete form,  is,  however,  a  blessed  task.  It 
suggests  smiles  instead  of  frowns,  kindness 
instead  of  anger,  cooperation  instead  of  oppo- 
sition, industry  instead  of  warfare.  The  condi- 
tions of  peace,  rendering  men  fraternal,  allow 
husbandry,  trade,  commerce,  education,  civiliza- 
tion, culture,  worship.  Peace  unites,  harmon- 
izes, solidifies  the  social  fabric.  Peace  gives 
joy  and  solace  and  comfort  to  the  human  heart. 
Peace  causes  the  land  to  burst  forth  into  happi- 
ness and  rejoicing.  Peace  lessens  labor,  mini- 
mizes hardship,  assuages  pain,  mitigates  grief. 
What  greater  boon  is  there  for  man  than 
peace  ? 


PROMOTERS  OF  PEACE.  213 

Peacemaking  is  even  Godlike.  The  infinite 
love  is  ever  seeking  peace,  the  peace  of  every 
troubled  heart,  the  cessation  of  every  woe,  of 
every  strife,  of  every  conflict,  of  every  pain. 
To  peace  God  calls  ;  and  to  be  peacemakers  is 
his  wish  for  us.     Thus  called,  we  must  obey. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PERILS   OF   OMISSION. 

The  law  of  Moses  is  prohibitive.  "Thou 
shalt  not "  is  its  phraseology.  Not  to  do  is  its 
fulfillment.  Avoid,  pass  by,  leave  undone,  are 
the  terms  of  its  practical  exhortation.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Ten  Commandments,  there  can  be  no 
sins  of  omission,  for  every  sin  must  be  omitted. 
Commission  is  sin,  while  omission  is  virtue. 
Cold  passivity  meets  all  the  requirements  of 
the  ten  negations. 

But  Christ  has  set  a  higher  standard.  He 
has  placed  the  law  of  God  wholly  on  its  posi- 
tive side.  His  two  great  commandments  are 
mandatory  —  commandments  properly  so-called. 
"Thou  shalt"  are  the  terms  of  statement: 
"Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind ; "  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self." And  when  he  was  asked  for  an  explana- 
tion of  the  second  commandment,  he  gave  the 
parable  of  the  good  Samaritan,  concluding  with 
the  positive  requirement,  "  Go  thou  and  do  like- 
214 


PERILS  OF  OMISSION.  215 

wise."  Sometimes  he  even  condensed  the  two 
commandments  into  one,  "Follow  thou  me;" 
but  the  bidding  is  then  no  less  positive  and  its 
execution  no  less  obligatory  of  positive  and 
definite  acts. 

The  teaching  of  Jesus  in  all  particulars  re- 
quires aggression  into  positive  righteousness, 
and  not  mere  recession  from  iniquity.  With  him 
omission  is  sin,  while  in  commission  lies  the 
virtue.  To  refuse,  to  pass  by,  to  avoid,  to  leave 
undone,  to  neglect,  bring  the  guilt  of  condem- 
nation. Indifference  and  passivity  are  grievous 
faults  ;  inaction  is  sin. 

Indeed,  we  may  find  this  higher  law  running 
through  all  departments  of  life  and  being.  By 
neglect  no  one  can  obtain  saving  for  the  body  or 
the  mind.  Neglect  is  fatal  for  the  physical  and 
mental,  as  well  as  for  the  spiritual  well-being, 
whether  of  a  babe,  child,  or  man.  In  busi- 
ness, in  farming,  in  the  arts,  and  in  the  profes- 
sions inaction  entails  ruin.  Through  careless 
indifference  comes  neither  safety  nor  soundness 
for  homes,  schools,  or  political,  social,  and  reli- 
gious institutions.  The  pauper,  the  tramp,  the 
drunkard,  the  criminal  are  not  reformed  by 
simple  well-wishing.  The  laissez-faire  principle, 
once  advocated  by  over-hopeful  optimists,  has 
proved  itself  inadequate  for  actual  progress 
toward  improvement,  and  has  been  abandoned 


216  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

by  economists  and  sociologists,  because  it  has 
been  discovered  in  hard  experience  that  effort 
and  struggle,  well  directed,  constant,  and  vigor- 
ous, are  the  only  means  of  social  advancement. 

That  the  kingdom  established  by  Christ,  after 
nineteen  centuries,  has  not  gained  possession  of 
the  whole  earth,  is  owing  less  to  [errors  and 
heresies  of  doctrine  into  which  Christians  may 
have  run,  than  to  the  ease  and  idleness  in  which 
they  too  freely  have  indulged.  The  man  of 
hardness  of  heart  is  not  alone  he  who  commits 
crimes,  but  more  often  he  who,  guilty  of  no 
actual  misdeeds,  yet  never  exerts  himself  for 
positive  deeds  of  love  and  mercy. 

Our  Lord  gave  expression  to  no  exhortations 
for  quietness  and  ease  in  his  kingdom,  "  Sit  ye 
still  and  keep  yourselves  spotless ! "  but  his  ap- 
peals were  to  action,  cross-bearing,  self-denial, 
labor.  He  taught,  not  they  who  cry,  "  Lord, 
Lord,"  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom,  but  they 
that  do  the  will  of  God.  Not  they  receive  his 
commendation  and  promotion  who  keep  their 
talents  ever  so  safely,  but  they  who  put  them 
forth  in  service,  and  increase  them  by  use. 

The  sin  of  omission  is  so  intangible  and  so 
subtle  that  few  realize  personal  guilt,  or  guard 
sufficiently  against  it.  It  is  cloaked  under  the 
garb  of  good  resolutions ;  we  disguise  it  under 
the  excuse  of  "  by  and  by,"  or  "  to-morrow,"  or 


PERILS  OF  OMISSION.  217 

"pretty  soon,"  and  so  we  permit  that  thief  of 
time  to  filch  away  a  large  share  of  our  positive 
virtues. 

Because  robbery  is  an  open,  discernible  crime 
of  positive  act  and  intent,  all  honest  men  shun 
it ;  yet  the  same  men  who  call  themselves 
honest  will  permit  a  neighbor  to  be  despoiled 
through  some  waste  or  neglect,  which  a  word 
or  a  slight  effort  might  have  prevented.  The 
crime  of  murder  is  so  heinous  that  all  right- 
minded  people  shrink  from  it  in  horror  ;  and  yet 
some  of  these  same  right-minded  people  will 
allow  a  person  to  reduce  his  life  by  degrees,  slow 
or  rapid,  through  some  seemingly  slight  failure 
to  guard  and  preserve  the  physical  powers. 
This  is  not  ignorance  alone,  but  is  careless 
neglect.  It  is  a  hard-hearted  wretch,  we  think, 
who  will  stand  on  the  bank  of  a  river  and  per- 
mit a  fellow-being  to  drift  by  him  over  the  falls 
without  a  single  effort  to  rescue  or  to  attract 
the  help  of  other  rescuers.  Yet  many  of  us  by 
passive  permission  become  responsible  for  loss 
and  destruction  that  engulf  our  neighbors. 

Sins  of  commission  we  see  ;  they  can  almost 
be  weighed,  measured,  and  tabulated  in  their 
due  relations  and  importance  ;  but  sins  of  omis- 
sion have  an  extremely  tenuous  hold  upon  the 
attention,  and  still  smaller  attachment  to  mem- 
ory, if  indeed  they  are  noticed  at  all.     There  is 


218  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

little  hazard  in  saying  that  any  person  who  re- 
views life  soberly  for  a  moment,  will  take  notice 
of  ten  things  done  that  ought  not  to  have  been 
done  to  one  thing  left  undone  that  ought  to  have 
been  done,  while,  in  all  probability,  the  person  is 
guilty  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  times  as  many  sins  of 
omission  as  of  commission. 

If  a  public  official  becomes  intoxicated,  or 
appropriates  the  public  funds,  his  misdemeanor 
is  obvious,  can  be  proved  and  brings  speedy  pun- 
ishment ;  but,  if,  instead  of  overt  acts  of  disquali- 
fication, he  simply  neglects  duty  and  fails  to 
discharge  his  obligations,  the  delinquences  are 
seldom  observed  by  his  constituents  ;  and  when 
noticed,  are  far  more  difficult  of  proof  than 
overt  acts. 

Not  always  does  it  follow  that  the  student 
who  keeps  along  with  his  classes,  without  fail- 
ure in  recitations,  performing  all  the  routine 
work  of  his  course,  is  the  successful  scholar  of 
disciplined  mind  and  intellectual  power.  The 
man  of  broad  scholarship  must  not  neglect  to 
think  as  well  as  to  learn,  to  weigh  as  well  as 
to  memorize,  to  read  good  literature  as  well  as  to 
study  the  assigned  lessons.  The  ten  command- 
ments of  an  educational  course  may  lie  in  the 
marking  system,  with  its  spurs  and  incentives 
of  class  rank  and  teachers'  reports ;  but  the 
new  dispensation  of  education,  the  gospel  of 


PERILS  OF  OMISSION.  219 

learning  and  wisdom,  by  which  the  student 
works  out  his  own  intellectual  salvation,  lies 
in  personal  zest,  personal  application,  a  per- 
sonal commitment  to  knowledge  for  the  sake 
of  what  knowledge  may  do  with  and  for  its 
disciples.  If  a  young  man  in  college  strives 
simply  for  his  diploma,  he  has  his  reward,  —  a 
diploma ;  but  if  he  faithfully  avails  himself  of 
all  the  opportunities  for  true  culture  which  the 
course  affords,  following  for  the  sake  of  knowl- 
edge some  of  the  by-paths  of  truth,  which  the 
class  as  a  whole  is  not  required  to  enter,  verily 
he  also  will  have  his  reward, — culture  and 
power. 

A  business  man  does  not  need  to  push  his  cus- 
tomers from  the  store  in  order  to  lose  their  trade ; 
if  he  but  neglect  them  and  their  interests,  he  will 
not  be  troubled  with  their  presence  again.  The 
errand  boy  need  not  break,  destroy,  and  steal, 
in  order  to  render  himself  unfit  for  promotion ; 
if  he  simply  leaves  his  regular  tasks  unper- 
formed, his  services  can  be  dispensed  with  at 
night.  The  cook  to  prove  her  worthlessness 
need  not  throw  the  baking  out-of-doors,  but 
simply  let  it  burn  in  the  oven.  The  gardener 
may  destroy  his  plants  quite  as  effectually  by 
letting  the  weeds  choke  them  as  by  pulling 
them  out  of  the  ground.  A  seaman  may  com- 
mit suicide  by  simply  allowing  his  vessel  to  drift. 


220  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

The  sins  of  omission  may  be  accounted  for. 
Sometimes  they  spring  from  ignorance,  an 
ignorance  of  circumstances,  of  consequences, 
or  of  the  divine  will.  The  civil  law  makes  no 
allowance  for  violations  of  this  nature,  requiring 
every  man  to  inform  himself  of  the  statutes. 
The  great  Lawgiver  above  requires  knowledge, 
yet  deals  leniently  with  his  subjects,  holding 
them  responsible  only  for  their  talents  and 
judging  them  only  according  to  their  light. 
Of  that  man  to  whom  much  has  been  com- 
mitted, of  him,  and  of  him  only,  shall  much  be 
required.  The  heathen  who  have  never  heard 
the  terms  of  salvation  may  yet  find  acceptance 
with  God  in  proportion  as  they  have  not  neg- 
lected that  which  they  have  known.  Infinite 
justice  will  not  require  at  our  hands  sheaves 
which  our  hands  are  incapable  of  gathering. 
Failure  to  perform  the  impossible  cannot  be 
reckoned  as  sin,  and  the  totally  unknown  is,  to 
a  moral  being,  the  impossible. 

Where,  then,  there  is  ignorance  there  may  be 
excuse.  But  if  the  ignorance  be  one  of  willful- 
ness and  obstinate  perversity,  then  the  sin  of 
omission  returns  to  the  cause  of  the  igno- 
rance, and  guilt  remains.  An  innocent  lack  of 
knowledge,  however,  we  may  well  believe,  the 
Master  always  condones.  And  how  could  it  be 
otherwise?    Who  then  could  be  exempt  from 


PERILS  OF  OMISSION.  221 

his  condemnation  ?  For  who  knows  all  ?  Who 
has  entered  into  a  full  conception  of  all  that  is 
involved  in  the  commission  of  a  single,  simple 
deed  or  of  the  entertainment  of  a  single 
thought  ?  It  would  require  infinite  wisdom  to 
understand  the  significance  of  even  one  hour 
of  life  lived  by  a  very  humble  man.  None  can 
know  all  the  moral  and  spiritual  opportunities 
and  influences  in  the  midst  of  which  they  live. 
Their  innocent  ignorance  must  be  the  extenua- 
tion of  their  failures  in  a  thousand  directions 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  grace  abounding  in 
human  circumstances. 

Another  cause  of  sins  of  omission  may  be 
found  in  personal  indifference  toward  opportuni- 
ties and  possibilities.  This  differs  from  igno- 
rance, as  it  is  less  mental  in  its  nature  than 
emotional.  The  indifferent  man  "  does  not 
care  ; "  he  has  no  liking  one  way  or  the  other  ; 
"  it  is  all  the  same  "  to  him.  Such  a  man  is 
lukewarm,  —  neither  hot  nor  cold,  —  to  be 
spued  out  of  the  mouth. 

The  probation  of  this  world  does  not  admit 
of  neutrality.  Issues  are  clear ;  lines  are  drawn  ; 
sides  must  be  taken.  This  is  not  a  world  of 
monotonous  levels,  nor  of  confused  and  obscure 
colorings,  nor  of  continuous,  unvarying  force. 
The  earth  itself  is  composed  of  hill  and  valley, 
of  light  and  shade,  and  is  permeated  with  forces 


222  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

of  great  and  small  impulsions.  By  it,  likes  and 
dislikes  are  aroused  and  varied  discriminations 
occasioned.  The  very  tutelage  of  nature  de- 
stroys indifference  and  ennui  in  her  subjects. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  instructions  to 
man,  God  has  taught  the  necessity  of  choosing 
and  loving  something,  some  one.  A  man  can- 
not remain  indifferent  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  He  must  care ;  he  must  prefer  right- 
eousness ;  he  must  seek  the  kingdom  and  its 
interests ;  he  must  love  God,  and  hate  iniquity. 

There  is  a  large  class  of  men  and  women  to- 
day, outside  the  pale  of  the  Christian  church, 
who  at  least  seem  —  if  they  are  not  really  so  — 
indifferent  to  the  claims  of  religion,  and  they 
constitute  a  difficult  class  for  the  church  of 
Christ  to  reach.  Though  they  may  not  be  a 
desirable  class  for  the  church  to  incorporate 
within  her  own  membership,  for,  if  once  within 
it,  they  will  still  retain  the  accumulated  disposi- 
tion of  indifference  and  neglect,  yet  for  their 
own  sakes  they  must  be  sought ;  they  must  be 
aroused  to  something  positive  in  life,  to  positive 
holiness,  righteousness,  and  love. 

Indifference  has  no  excuse,  and  is  without 
extenuation. 

But  yet  another  cause  of  the  sins  of  omission 
lies  in  sheer  inaction.  This  differs  from  igno- 
rance and  indifference,  inasmuch  as  it  is  neither 


PERILS  OF  OMISSION.  223 

mental  nor  emotional  in  its  nature,  but  rather 
volitional.  A  man,  knowing  what  he  ought 
to  do,  and  quite  likely  preferring  that  which 
duty  prompts,  yet  does  not  do  it.  Perhaps  he 
simply  postpones  action.  He  may  not  inten- 
tionally set  his  will  against  God's  will  in  the 
matter,  but  he  does  not  place  his  will  in  har- 
mony with  the  divine  will.  He  may  try  to 
occupy  for  the  time-being  a  position  of  neutral- 
ity. But  the  teaching  of  Christ  makes  it  quite 
plain  that  volitional  omission  is  volitional  insub- 
ordination.    Not  to  obey  is  to  disobey. 

Shall,  then,  a  man  who  knows  the  inexorable 
laws  and  the  inevitable  consequences  of  neglect 
in  farming,  in  trade,  in  learning,  and  in  culture, 
—  shall  he  expect  immunity,  if  he  neglect  his 
soul's  welfare  and  his  spiritual  obligations  ? 
Shall  a  man  be  less  wise  in  his  religion  than  in 
his  business,  his  pleasures,  or  his  personal  and 
social  improvements  ?  If  attention  and  action 
are  the  price  of  success  in  all  other  depart- 
ments of  life  and  being,  shall  they  not  also  be 
recognized  as  the  price  of  salvation  in  the 
spiritual  domain  ? 

The  divirie  love  has  in  no  manner  neglected 
us.  Can  we  escape  a  righteous  condemnation, 
if  we  neglect  the  overtures  of  grace,  the  decla- 
rations of  the  divine  will,  and  the  opportunities 
of  fellowship  with  Christ  ? 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

WANT,  THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY. 

The  measure  of  individual  possibility  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  beatitude,  "  Blessed  are  they 
that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  :  for 
they  shall  be  filled." 

A  little  definition  will  aid  in  disclosing  the 
significance  of  this  measure.  To  hunger  and 
thirst  are  strong  expressions  for  desire,  com- 
mon in  all  languages.  The  lexicon,  in  students' 
hands,  defines  the  Greek  word  for  hunger,  in  its 
metaphorical  use,  "  to  crave  ardently,  to  seek 
with  eager  desire,"  and  says  of  the  word  for 
thirst,  "figuratively,  those  are  said  to  thirst 
who  painfully  feel  their  want  of,  and  eagerly 
long  for,  those  things  by  which  the  soul  is 
refreshed,  supported,  strengthened."  The  Greek 
original  of  the  word  rendered  "  shall  be  filled  " 
occurs  frequently  in  the  New  Testament,  signi- 
fying to  feed,  to  satisfy  with  food  ;  first  used  of 
feeding  animals,  and  later  of  feeding  men. 

This  beatitude  might,  therefore,  be  para- 
phrased, Blessed  are  those  who   eagerly  long 


WANT,   THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.      225 

for  righteousness,  and  earnestly  strive  to  be 
righteous  :  for  they  shall  have  righteousness 
fed  to  them  as  food,  and  their  longings  shall  be 
met.  But,  since  righteousness  here  must  not 
be  thought  of  as  something  abstract,  the  para- 
phrase might  be  amplified  to  the  form,  Blessed 
are  they  who  eagerly  long  for  personal  good- 
ness, who  earnestly  strive  to  be  personally 
good :  for  they  shall  be  fed  with  the  elements 
which  make  personal  goodness,  and  shall  find 
their  ideals  constantly  approaching  realization. 

Worldly  wisdom  expresses  sententiously  the 
same  thought,  "  Where  there  is  a  will,  there  is 
a  way ; "  and  the  wise  seer  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  has  written,  "as  he  thinketh 
in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  Longings  become  pur- 
poses ;  aspirations  are  converted  into  policies 
and  plans  ;  thinking  transmutes  itself  into  con- 
duct ;  ideals  make  character. 

We  have  already  seen  that  there  is  very 
little  suddenness  in  this  world.  Changes  are 
usually  by  growth,  by  slight  gradations,  by 
almost  imperceptible  modifications.  And  this 
is  as  true  in  relation  to  changes  which  affect 
human  souls  as  in  the  developments  taking 
place  in  the  physical  universe. 

It  is  obvious  to  us  that  the  supposed  exem- 
plary bank  official,  who  startles  the  community 
by  enormous  peculations,  has  not  all  at  once 


226  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

made  his  stealings,  but  long  since  began  to 
think  wrongly  in  regard  to  the  wealth  com- 
mitted to  his  trust ;  and  gradually  the  thought 
grew  to  a  purpose,  and  at  last  the  purpose  be- 
came an  act.  The  man  of  reputed  probity  and 
purity  has  not  all  at  once  become  profligate 
and  vicious,  when  a  public  disclosure  reveals 
a  foul  and  putrid  life,  but  has  long  allowed 
viciousness  to  paint  the  pictures  of  his  mind, 
until,  delighting  in  the  pictures,  he  has  desired 
the  vice,  and  given  himself  to  its  embrace.  No 
blasphemer  and  scoffer  has  lost  respect  for 
God  and  religion  in  a  day  or  a  night,  but  has 
reached  his  negations  and  their  accompanying 
mental  obtuseness  and  hardness  of  heart  by 
inches. 

Character  is  a  growth.  It  creeps  upon  us  as 
the  twilight  becomes  darkness  and  as  the  dawn 
increases  to  day.  Virtue  is  not  a  flash,  a  flare, 
a  glare,  or  a  sudden  ecstasy.  Goodness  springs 
not  up  as  mushrooms.  Righteousness  repre- 
sents the  slow  accretions  of  unfolding  charac- 
ter; it  is  the  evolution  of  spiritual  manhood 
from  the  inherent,  latent  powers  and  possibili- 
ties of  the  soul. 

In  many  seeds  the  embryo  reveals  its  axis, 
plumule,  and  leaves,  indicative  of  what  the 
plant  shall  be,  before  the  plant  has  begun  to 
grow.      At  some  stages  of  development  from 


IVAhIT,   THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.      227 

the  egg,  the  unaided  eye  can  behold  what  the 
microscope  long  since  discerned,  a  clear  proph- 
ecy of  the  life  to  be,  its  kind,  its  form,  and 
perchance  its  functions.  So  in  the  aspirations 
of  a  human  soul,  in  its  longings  and  desires,  is 
a  prophecy  of  what  that  soul,  developing  in 
character,  shall  be. 

The  ideals  are  the  embryo  of  the  man.  To- 
morrow lies  wrapped  within  to-day.  What  one 
hungers  and  thirsts  after,  that  shall  he  have; 
what  one  wills  to  be  that  shall  he  become. 
The  constituent,  undeveloped  elements  of  both 
heaven  and  hell  are  infolded  in  the  human 
breast.  Direction  lies  in  ambition,  and  destiny 
is  determined  by  choice. 

We  must  never  look  upon  conversion  as  a 
completed  act.  It  is  merely  a  beginning.  In 
it  two  cooperating  agencies  combine  and  con- 
tinue their  activities  :  the  human  will,  supply- 
ing proper  conditions  by  its  determination  of 
spiritual  direction  and  pliancy,  and  the  divine 
power,  imparting  through  the  truth  new  prin- 
ciples and  new  cogency  to  the  soul.  But  con- 
version must  not  satisfy.  A  converted  soul 
that  is  satisfied  with  conversion  will  soon  be  a 
dead  soul.  To  be  born  and  not  to  grow  is  to 
be  a  monstrosity. 

Christ's  assurance  of  satisfaction  to  them 
that    hunger    and    thirst    after    righteousness 


228  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

does  not  refer  to  the  mere  joy  of  entering  upon 
a  Christian  life  but  to  the  fuller  joy  of  continued 
development  in  the  Christian  life.  He  speaks 
of  constant  aspirations  for  increased  righteous- 
ness, persistent  longings  for  more  holiness,  and 
never-ceasing  incentives  to  progress,  improve- 
ment, and  enlarged  conceptions  of  the  possibili- 
ties of  acquaintance  with  divine  truth. 

To  be  satisfied  is  to  stagnate  and  become 
unwholesome ;  to  be  satisfied  is  to  petrify  and 
become  a  monument  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
an  experience ;  to  be  satisfied  is  to  lay  down 
the  historian's  pen  and  close  the  volume ;  to 
be  satisfied  is  to  terminate  one's  spiritual  biog- 
raphy. No,  no.  Blessed  are  they  who  are 
not  satisfied,  who  long  for  more,  for  they  shall 
behold  their  ideals  far  in  advance,  and  shall 
find  both  joy  and  inspiration  in  pursuit. 

No  other  religion  sets  so  high  a  standard  for 
its  adherents  as  Christianity :  •  "  Be  ye  there- 
fore perfect  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect."  Other  religions  exhort, 
"  appease  God ; "  but  to  appease  and  pacify 
Deity  is  not  so  lofty  an  aim,  by  an  almost  meas- 
ureless distance,  as  to  become  like  God  in 
holiness.  Buddhism  holds  forth  the  ideal  of 
final  absorption  into  divinity,  losing  personal 
identity ;  but  to  be  merged  in  the  infinite  is  by 
no  means  so  exalted  and  ennobling  an  aim  as, 


IVANT,    THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.      229 

while  distinct  from  God,  to  take  on  by  degrees, 
albeit  slowly,  some  of  the  holy  characteristics 
of  God. 

Christianity  sets  up  the  unattainable  as  its 
goal,  "  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus,"  and  urges  man  to  attain  thereto. 
The  very  impossibility  of  attainment  and,  there- 
fore, of  immediate  and  complete  satisfaction, 
is  one  proof  of  the  perennial  freshness  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  When  the  world  has 
grown  old,  the  ideal  will  still  be  attractive  and 
potent,  will  still  be  in  advance.  When  man 
has  run  his  course,  the  goal,  still  far  in  the 
distance,  will  attract  him.  When  humanity  has 
reached  out  to  its  farthest  stretch,  it  will  still 
have  spheres  of  attraction  and  allurement  on 
beyond  it.  Even  eternity  cannot  exhaust  the 
object  of  pursuit  or  make  the  aim  and  ideal  of 
the  Christian  cheap  and  mean.  Could  any- 
thing short  of  this  be  adequate  for  an  ultimate 
religion  ?  Could  anything  else  be  worthy  the 
name  of  a  "  divine  "  religion  ?  Could  one  know 
that  the  religion  was  not  from  man  unless  it 
held  out  to  man  more  than  man  ever  was 
capable   of  ? 

Blessed  indeed,  then,  are  they  who  hunger 
and  thirst.  Let  them  become  ever  so  right- 
eous, yet  more  remains  to  long  for.  Let  them 
climb  and  mount,  they  may  climb  and  mount 


230  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

still  higher.  Let  them  attain  all  the  excellences 
of  earth  and  there  will  yet  remain  for  them 
unappropriated  goodness ;  aye,  on  into  eternity 
they  may  go,  ever  advancing,  ever  attaining, 
ever  hungering  and  thirsting,  ever  being  filled. 

To  hunger  and  thirst  is  the  mark  of  life  and 
growth.  He  who  is  learning,  desiring  ever  to 
know,  is  the  scholar,  not  he  who  knows.  He  is 
a  fossil  who  thinks  he  knows  enough,  and  does 
not  learn.  Young  men  who  go  forth  from 
college  satisfied  with  their  diplomas  will  end 
where  they  begin  ;  they  are  already  antiquated. 
Life  is  before ;  it  is  not  past.  The  small  suc- 
cesses already  achieved  should  be  an  inspira- 
tion. Having  contributed  some  knowledge, 
some  character,  some  power,  past  life  should 
have  also  contributed  a  great  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  more  knowledge,  more  character, 
more  power,  more  life,  else  the  past  has  been 
well  nigh  void  and  vain.  That  is  a  good  institu- 
tion of  learning  which  sends  forth  its  students 
equipped  with  a  method  and  an  ambition  for 
scholarly  attainments  and  an  intellectual  life, 
whether  possessing  at  the  time  of  graduation 
much  of  knowledge  or  not;  and  that  is  a  good 
student,  not  who  knows  a  great  deal,  but  who 
is  conscious  that  he  knows  little,  and  wills  to 
know  more. 

Possibility  is  better  than  pride  of  possession ; 


WAUT,   THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.      231 

opportunity  is  worth  even  more  than  achieve- 
ment. Achievement  may  be  a  closed  door;  one 
may  be  on  the  inside,  yet  perhaps  a  prisoner, 
shut  up  in  the  past.  If  there  be  no  more  op- 
portunities, dismal  indeed  is  the  prison-house ! 
Opportunity  throws  wide  a  door,  through  which 
one  may  pass,  not  into  a  cut  de  sac,  a  blind 
alley,  but  into  spacious  halls,  opening  wide  into 
an  alluring  vista  of  possibilities. 

He  who  would  preserve  his  life  must  ever 
enter  the  open  doors,  and  never  abide.  His 
rest  must  consist  in  not  resting.  Weariness  and 
ennui  are  the  portion  of  those  who  have  settled 
into  attainment  and  obtain  nothing  more.  They 
are  caged  and  captive  ;  the  past  repeats  itself 
with  wearying,  painful  monotony.  To  them 
life  is  walled  up,  blank  and  drear.  Their  to-day 
was  yesterday,  and  their  to-morrow  will  be  to- 
day, without  surcease. 

Oh,  woe  unto  them  who  have  lost  ambition 
and  strive  no  longer  to  achieve ;  woe  unto  him 
who  has  lost  his  appetite,  either  physical  or 
mental ;  woe  to  him  to  whom  all  things  have 
become  flat  and  insipid ;  woe  indeed  to  all  who 
no  longer  hunger  and  thirst  after  knowledge  in 
the  intellectual  sphere,  or  after  righteousness 
in  the  spiritual  sphere,  for  they  are  indeed 
dead ! 

Such  a  feeling  of  woe  for  those  who  do  not 


232  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

hunger  and  thirst,  who  do  not  entertain  the 
spirit  of  progress,  lies  behind  the  thought  of 
Carlyle  when,  in  his  "Life  of  Frederick  the 
Great "  he  speaks  of  excessive  conservatism  : 
"  It  is  very  wrong  to  keep  enchanted  wiggeries 
sitting  in  this  world,  as  if  they  were  things  still 
alive.  By  a  species  of  *  conservatism,'  which 
gets  praise  in  our  time,  but  which  is  only  sloth- 
ful cowardice,  base  indifference  to  truth  and 
hatred  to  trouble  in  comparison  with  lies  that 
sit  quiet,  men  now  extensively  practice  this 
method  of  procedure,  little  dreaming  how  bad 
and  fatal  it  at  all  times  is.  When  the  brains 
are  out  things  really  ought  to  die,  — no  matter 
what  lovely  things  they  were  and  still  affect  to 
be,  the  brains  being  out,  they  actually  ought  in 
all  cases  to  die,  and  with  their  best  speed  get 
buried.  Men  had  noses  at  one  time ;  and  smelt 
the  horror  of  a  deceased  reality  fallen  putrid,  of 
a  once  dear  veracity  become  mendacious,  phan- 
tasmal ;  but  they  have  to  an  immense  degree 
lost  that  organ  since,  and  are  now  living  com- 
fortably cheek-by-jowl  with  lies.  Lies  of  that 
sad  '  conservative  '  kind,  and  indeed  of  all  kinds 
whatsoever  :  for  that  kind  is  a  general  mother ; 
and  breeds,  with  a  fecundity  that  is  appalling, 
did  you  heed  it  much."  That  is  a  Carlylean 
lament  over  a  lack  of  hungering  and  thirsting 
after  new  truth  and  after  enlarged  righteousness, 


TV  ANT,    THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.      233 

He  who  does  not  long  for  more  and  for  better 
is  content  with  sham,  and  then  weds  himself,  in 
the  stupidity  of  his  slothfulness,  to  lies.  All 
our  progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  in  travel 
and  discovery,  in  invention  and  knowledge  is 
due  to  hungering  and  thirsting.  This  Western 
Continent  was  discovered  because  a  man,  though 
hindered,  thwarted,  yet  determined,  seeking,  was 
not  baffled.  A  quiet  observer  in  a  dim  cathe- 
dral, though  at  length  suppressed  and  perse- 
cuted, yet,  nothing  daunted,  persevered  :  the 
swinging  lamp  emboldened  him  to  declare  of 
the  earth,  it  "does  move."  Astronomy  is  a 
science  because  men  have  hungered  to  know 
the  heavens  and  their  mysteries.  Electricity 
bends  its  shoulder  to  the  service  of  man  be- 
cause man  has  hungered  and  thirsted  after 
knowledge  of  the  lightning's  nature  and  method. 
The  intense  longing  now  felt  in  the  observa- 
tories, laboratories,  and  workshops  of  thousands 
of  persistent  seekers  prophesies  that  more 
knowledge,  in  directions  yet  unknown,  will 
benefit  mankind  in  our  day.  Man  has  longed 
to  fly  ;  the  prophecy  of  his  flying  is  written 
large  on  the  attempts,  and  more  clearly  on  the 
desires  of  man. 

And  yet,  while  the  standard  of  Christianity 
may  be  termed  inaccessible,  nevertheless  at- 
tainment in  Christian  longing  and  aspiration  is 


234  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

more  certain  than  in  any  other  domain.  In  the 
physical,  industrial,  social,  political  worlds,  the 
promise  of  satisfaction  holds  good  only  under 
fixed  conditions. 

It  used  to  be  said  that  every  American  boy 
might  aspire  to  the  presidency  of  the  United 
States.  Yet  among  seventy  millions  of  people 
not  more  than  fifteen  individuals  living  at  any 
one  time  can,  by  any  possibility  of  contingen- 
cies, ever  attain  to  the  honors  of  a  four  years' 
residence  in  the  White  House.  The  others 
may  hunger  and  thirst,  yet  never  be  more  than 
town  clerk  or  ward  politican.  It  used  to  be 
true  that  a  farmer  could  with  ease  earn  a  com- 
petency, pay  for  his  farm,  and  educate  liberally 
his  boys  and  girls  at  the  academy  and  college  ; 
but  the  conditions  of  landholdings  in  the  West, 
with  large  acreage,  fertile  soil,  cultivation  by 
machinery  and  cheap  transportation,  have 
rendered  the  chances  much  more  against  the 
farmer  and  raised  barriers  over  which  he  has 
no  control.  Not  all  who  hunger  and  thirst  for 
the  old  homestead  on  the  hillside  can  to-day  lift 
its  incumbrance  of  mortgage. 

It  used  to  be  true  that  the  mechanic  could 
reasonably  look  forward  to  becoming  a  master 
in  his  trade,  an  owner,  and  participator  in  large 
enterprises ;  but  now  he  is  too  often  a  mere 
part  of  a  machine,  acquainted  with  but  a  small 


WANT,   THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.      235 

portion  of  his  trade,  perhaps  trained  only  to  the 
holding  of  two  pieces  of  leather  so  that  a 
machine  may  complete  the  labor  of  his  hands. 
However  much  he  may  hunger  and  thirst  for 
advancement  and  promotion,  yet  he  knows  only 
one  machine  and  its  possibilities ;  his  world  has 
become  narrowed  down  to  the  circumference  of 
that  one  piece  of  mechanism  !  It  used  to  be 
true  that  a  young  man  in  a  store  might  reason- 
ably expect,  by  industry  and  frugality  through 
the  patience  of  years,  to  become  proprietor; 
but  now  he  "  clerks  it "  at  the  ribbon  counter  ; 
he  knows  nothing  but  ribbons  ;  he  may  hunger 
and  thirst  after  satins  or  woolens,  after  book- 
keeping or  purchasing ;  but  he  is  filled  with 
ribbons ! 

The  industrial  world  surely  faces  a  hard  bond- 
age to-day  in  too  many  of  our  great  cities  and 
villages  and  in  too  many  of  our  modern  facto- 
ries and  shops.  Labor  agitations  have  this 
not  unreasonable  complaint  behind  them.  The 
unrest,  the  discontent,  and  all  the  manifold  dis- 
turbances caused  by  strikes,  lockouts,  boycott- 
ing, rioting,  and  by  tramps  are  due  in  no  small 
degree  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  social,  an  indus- 
trial hungering  and  thirsting,  keen  and  insistent, 
that  has  no  hope  of  being  appeased,  no  promise 
of  assuagement.  The  great  social  problem  to- 
day is,  how  to  meet  these  longings,   most  of 


236  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

which  are  legitimate.  To  hunger  and  thirst 
without  the  promise  is  to  face  despair. 

But  in  righteousness  there  are  no  arbitrary 
limitations.  In  religion  a  man  stands  alone, 
unfettered  by  his  fellows,  unrestrained  by  social 
hindrances,  free  from  the  bondage  of  monopo- 
lies, "  trusts,"  and  "  corners."  In  religion  there 
are  no  favors  ;  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 
So  far  as  the  individual  is  concerned,  the  whole 
religious  world  consists  of  but  two,  God  and 
himself.  While  in  labor  a  man  becomes  a  part 
of  his  machine,  and  in  agriculture  and  trade  he 
is  a  part  of  a  great  social  organization,  a  part  of 
a  system,  yet  in  matters  that  pertain  to  the 
spiritual  life  he  appears  as  a  sovereign  person 
before  a  sovereign  personal  God. 

In  the  approach  to  God  there  exist  no  insur- 
mountable limitations.  Heredity  may  yield 
tendencies  and  biases,  but  heredity  is  no  final 
arbiter  of  destiny ;  the  circumstances  of  one's 
life  may  check  and  hinder,  but  they  cannot 
abrogate  the  scope  of  human  freedom.  God  is 
accessible  to  all ;  heaven  is  at  no  time  closed  to 
any ;  treasures  where  moth  and  rust  do  not  cor- 
rupt may  be  made  as  abundant  as  one  wills ;  in 
spiritual  pursuits  the  future  is  free ;  no  impos- 
sibility confronts  him  whose  aim  is  goodness ; 
righteousness  never  fails. 

Ideals  make  the  spiritual  man.     In  spiritual 


WANT,   THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.      237 

things  their  domination  extends  more  com- 
pletely than  in  any  other  department  of  being. 
Aims  prophesy  of  the  future  ;  ambition  is  a 
forecast  of  spiritual  attainments. 

These  teachings  of  the  Master  are  pregnant 
with  meaning.  They  indicate  that  the  new 
birth  is  not  like  the  mythical  origin  of  Minerva, 
full  grown  from  the  head  of  Jove,  but  a  birth 
unto  spiritual  infancy  and  growth  ;  that,  indeed, 
in  Christianity  neither  the  positive  nor  the  su- 
perlative degree  can  be  applied  to  man,  but  the 
comparative  only,  for  in  order  to  be  holy,  he 
must  be  ever  becoming  more  holy ;  in  order  to 
be  good,  must  ever  be  growing  better ;  in  order 
to  stand,  must  ever  be  advancing ;  and  to  com- 
plete the  suggestions  on  this  point,  it  is  appar- 
ent that  sanctification  must  be  simply  healthful, 
normal  growth  in  grace. 

The  suggestions  of  these  teachings  of  the 
Master  confirm  our  thought  that  the  religion 
which  he  has  revealed  must  be  the  final  and 
absolute  religion,  for  it,  of  all  religions,  offers 
the  loftiest,  most  noble  standard,  and  is  there- 
fore fit  to  abide  as  the  highest  type  revealed  to 
man  ;  for  Christianity  has  promise  of  ever  giv- 
ing satisfaction,  of  never  growing  old,  never 
becoming  antiquated,  never  proving  inadequate, 
—  even  through  the  limitless  aeons  of  eternity, 
,  and   unto   the   saint   purest  grown,  as  it   has 


238  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

within  it  the  potency  of  development  unto  the 
perfect  ideal,  God. 

The  Master's  language  does  not  necessarily 
disparage  conservatism ;  for,  there  is  a  legiti- 
mate conservatism,  the  conservatism  of  holding 
fast  that  which  is  good ;  but  the  Master  sets 
his  approval  upon  progressiveness,  upon  ambi- 
tion for  improvement,  upon  a  wholesome  dis- 
content with  the  past  and  the  present  for  the 
sake  of  gaining  a  new  and  a  better  future.  The 
restless  activity  and  intense  self-projection  into 
the  future  of  the  Apostle  Paul  accords  with  this 
principle :  "  Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to 
have  apprehended,  but  this  one  thing  I  do,  for- 
getting those  things  that  are  behind  and  reach- 
ing forth  unto  those  that  are  before,  I  press 
toward  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 

The  promise  of  satisfaction  on  the  lips  of  the 
Master  affords  the  inestimable  consolation,  in 
the  midst  of  all  social,  political,  and  industrial 
disappointments  and  distresses,  of  success  to 
the  seeker,  rest  for  the  weary,  food  and  refresh- 
ment for  the  hungry,  grace  for  the  sinful.  It 
speaks  of  peace  after  conflict,  of  home  after 
wanderings,  of  joy  to  take  the  place  of  pain  and 
sorrow,  of  heaven  when  earth  is  passed. 

If  a  man  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness, what  cheer  and  assurance  he  may  have ! 


WANT,   THE  PROPHECY  OF  SUPPLY.       239 

Let  him  look  forward,  outward,  onward,  upward  : 
he  shall  be  filled.  Though  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing, though  struggling  and  toiling,  —  yea,  while 
hungering  and  thirsting,  while  struggling  and 
toiling,  —  nay,  better  yet,  because  of  his  intense 
longings  and  because  of  his  strong  efforts,  the 
prophecy  of  his  soul's  desires  shall  be  met,  he 
shall  be  fed,  he  shall  be  filled,  he  shall  be  sat- 
isfied. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION. 

Revelation  is  always  limited  by  the  capacity 
of  the  recipient.  A  pint  cup  can  hold  no  more 
than  a  pint  even  if  supplied  from  a  million- 
gallon  reservoir.  Belief  is  one  synonym  for 
spiritual  capacity  ;  it  is  the  synonym  for  recep- 
tivity up  to  the  limit  of  ability.  But  even  ready 
belief  cannot  receive  all  things,  because  ability 
is  wanting. 

This  lack  of  ability  on  the  part  of  the  disci- 
ples and  contemporaries  of  Jesus  brings  to  the 
surface  of  the  New  Testament  narrative  some 
of  the  tenderest  strains  of  pathos  the  world 
knows.  Because  of  unbelief  Jesus  was  obliged 
to  withhold  himself  ;  having  no  one  who  could 
fully  sympathize  with  him,  he  had  none  upon 
whom  he  could  lean  for  solace  and  support,  but 
was  obliged  to  bear  his  burdens  isolated  from 
intimate  human  fellowship  ;  though  he  came 
with  an  infinite  revelation,  yet  he  could  impart 
but  the  rudiments,  as  none  were  then  prepared 
to  receive  the  whole.  He  himself  said,  just  be- 
240 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  241 

fore  leaving  his  disciples,  "  I  have  many  things 
to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now." 

Human  incapacity  has  occasioned  divine  reti- 
cence ;  the  limitations  of  the  flesh  put  fetters 
even  upon  the  spirit.  In  the  midst  of  his  dis- 
ciples stood  Jesus,  laden,  full,  infinite  with 
truth,  ready  to  impart ;  and  before  him  were 
the  disciples,  believing,  eager  to  receive,  but 
unable  :  "ye  cannot  bear  them  now." 

It  is  plain  that  there  can  be  no  complete  and 
perfect  revelation  until  the  complete  and  perfect 
man  appears.  Finality  comes  not  now,  but  in 
the  future.  As  man  increases  in  capacity,  to 
him  truth  may  come  more  freely,  more  abun- 
dantly ;  and,  therefore,  because  he  enlarges, 
revelation  to  him  may  be  said  to  be  progressive. 

This  truth  can  be  illustrated  from  the  lives 
of  the  apostles.  While  Jesus  was  with  them, 
they  supposed  his  reign  to  be  temporal  and 
him  to  be  an  earthly  king.  In  his  kingdom 
they  strove  for  place  and  greatness.  When  he 
spoke  of  suffering  and  death,  they  expostulated, 
"Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord."  Even  imme- 
diately before  the  ascension,  after  the  intimacy 
of  their  three  years'  service  with  him,  having 
heard  his  words,  having  seen  his  works  and 
having  bathed  ih  his  spirit,  they  yet  inquired, 
"  Lord,  dost  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  king- 
dom to  Israel  ? "     But  after  Pentecost,  after  an 


242  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

enlargement  of  spiritual  vision  which  made  the 
recognition  of  new  truth  possible,  they  began 
to  see  and  proclaim  the  coming  of  a  spiritual 
kingdom. 

The  prophet  Joel,  at  least  four  centuries  be- 
fore Christ,  had  said,  "and  it  shall  come  to 
pass  that  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord  shall  be  delivered,"  or  saved.  But 
none  of  the  Jews  understood  these  words  to 
mean  more  than  that  whatever  Jew  would  call 
upon  God  would  find  favor.  Peter,  though 
using  the  language  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
had  no  broader  conception  of  its  significance 
than  any  Jew  would  have,  and,  even  after  a 
special  experience  on  the  housetop,  failed  to 
banish  the  old  notion  from  his  mind.  Paul, 
with  a  wider  training,  possessed  a  broader  capa- 
city to  discern  that  in  this  old  prophetic  utter- 
ance was  an  expression  of  divine  mercy  and 
purpose  toward  the  Gentile  as  well  as  the  Jew. 

Although  it  is  declared  in  the  books  of  Deu- 
teronomy, Second  Chronicles  and  Job  that  God 
is  no  respecter  of  persons,  yet  every  Jew  sup- 
posed that  amongst  Jews  alone  this  divine  im- 
partiality prevailed.  The  disciples  of  Jesus 
entertained  the  same  thought,  even  though 
Jesus  by  his  example  had  shown  favor  of  a 
wider  scope  to  the  Syro-phenician  woman,  to 
the  Samaritan  woman,  and  to  them  of  Gadara 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  243 

and  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  even  though  he  had 
by  explicit  commandment  instructed  them  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  But  the 
special  vision  to  Peter,  when  he  was  sent  to 
Cornelius,  gave  the  first  clear  glimpse  of  the 
broader  outlook. 

The  great  commission,  spoken  by  Jesus  be- 
fore his  ascension,  to  make  disciples  of  all  the 
nations,  none  of  the  apostles  understood,  or 
complied  with,  until,  nearly  fifteen  years  later, 
the  scope  of  the  divine  intent  dawned  upon  the 
minds  of  the  church  at  Antioch,  and  Paul  and 
Barnabas  were  sent  out  on  the  first  missionary 
tour. 

Indeed,  contrary  to  a  notion  prevalent  among 
many  Christians,  we  must  acknowledge  that 
those  primitive  days  in  the  church  are  not  the 
most  perfect  examples  of  the  Master's  intent 
for  his  disciples  and  the  application  of  his 
truth.  The  apostles  were  so  limited  in  their 
appreciation  of  the  character  of  the  Messiah 
and  the  Kingdom  which  he  was  to  establish, 
that  their  examples  and  their  utterances  must 
be  tested  by  the  later  and  larger  revelation  that 
came  as  Christian  experience  enlarged  the  capa- 
city to  discern. 

In  his  first  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  Paul 
wrote  of  Christ's  return  to  earth  as  so  immi- 
nent that  those  who  were  then  living  should 


244  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

see  him  and  "be  caught  up  in  the  clouds  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air ;  "  but  within  a  few 
months,  when  penning  the  Second  Epistle  to 
the  Thessalonians,  Paul  had  grown  to  the  rec- 
ognition of  the  fact  that  Christ  was  not  to 
appear  immediately,  but  "  the  man  of  sin " 
must  first  come,  and  many  preliminary  events 
intervene. 

The  choosing  by  lot  of  Matthias  to  take  the 
place  of  Judas,  while  certainly  "apostolic,"  need 
commend  to  us  to-day  neither  the  use  of  chance 
and  divination  in  determining  important  issues, 
nor  the  propriety  of  preserving  a  sacred  apos- 
tolic college  and  a  certain  form  of  ecclesiastical 
government. 

Nor  can  the  early  communism  of  the  church 
be  cited  as  an  infallible  pattern  for  us  to  follow 
to-day.  That  those  Christians  sold  all  their 
goods  and  had  all  things  common,  is  not  suffi- 
cient reason  why  we  should  do  the  same.  They 
inaugurated  a  practice  which  Christ  had  not 
commanded,  and  which  they  themselves  ere  long 
abandoned.  If  the  teaching  of  Jesus  does  con- 
tain the  germ  of  this  mode  of  social  reformation, 
we  must  follow  our  best  enlightenment  in  de- 
veloping that  germ  ;  but  we  are  upon  insecure 
ground  for  finding  our  present-day  duties  merely 
in  apostolic  precedent.  Were  we  to  adhere  to 
that   precedent   consistently  and   persistently, 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  245 

we  should  take  occasion  to  follow  Jesus,  when 
in  danger,  "afar  off,"  and  to  deny  him,  as  Peter 
did,  and,  when  imperiled  ourselves,  to  seek  our 
own  safety,  without  regard  to  the  Master's  need, 
as  did  all  the  apostles  excepting  John  at  the 
hour  of  crucifixion.  If  Tolstoi  is  right  in  advo- 
cating for  modern  society  such  fraternity  as  the 
pentecostal  church  practiced,  it  must  be  proven 
to  us  in  the  light  of  modern  conditions,  with 
the  modern  conscience  revolving  the  eternal 
truth  enunciated  by  Christ. 

It  is  obvious  that  revelation  to  man  may  in- 
crease along  three  lines  of  development. 

The  first  is  through  diffusion  of  knowledge 
in  history,  geography,  customs,  language,  and 
literature.  I  do  not  say  increase  of  knowledge. 
To  know  what  others  of  a  past  time  or  remote 
country  know,  may  signify  an  increase  of  knowl- 
edge to  us,  but  it  is  no  real  increase  to  the  sum 
total  of  human  knowledge ;  it  is  mere  diffusion 
in  time  and  space.  Indeed,  there  can  be  no 
increase  of  knowledge  in  history  and  geography, 
in  customs,  past  or  present,  and  languages  and 
literatures,  past  or  present ;  in  these  directions 
diffusion  of  knowledge  alone  is  possible.  To 
receive  the  facts  of  Roman  history  or  of  Pales- 
tinian geography  involves  simply  a  transmission 
of  knowledge  to  us. 

Now,  by  diffusion  of  knowledge,  men  advance 


246  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

in  capacity  to  appreciate  truth.  This  is  readily 
assented  to,  when  knowledge  of  Biblical  scenes 
and  events  is  involved.  We  may  take  a  tangible 
instance. 

In  the  Fourth  Gospel  occurs  a  clause  which 
at  first  sight  seems  insignificant  in  meaning,  — 
"And  he  must  needs  go  through  Samaria," 
—  but  yields  to  us  a  depth  of  insight  into  the 
Master's  spirit  and  character  when  we  recall 
the  position  of  Samaria,  between  Judea  and 
Galilee,  and  learn  from  Josephus,  almost  con- 
temporary with  Jesus,  that  many  Jews,  because 
of  a  long-cherished  and  intense  hatred  of  the 
Samaritans,  would  not  go  through  Samaritan 
territory,  but  preferred  to  pass  over  the  Jordan 
River,  and,  by  a  circuitous  route  through  Perea, 
make  the  journey  around  Samaria.  When  thus 
understood,  these  few  words  give  an  example  of 
the  Master's  moral  courage  and  freedom  from 
human  prejudices  and  hatreds.  The  little  phrase 
by  diffusion  of  knowledge  becomes  luminous 
with  meaning. 

Another  instance  may  be  found  in  the  life 
of  Paul.  When  in  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  on  his 
second  missionary  journey,  Paul  desired  to  go 
southwest  into  the  province  of  Asia,  and,  being 
hindered  by  the  Spirit,  desired  then  to  travel 
northward  into  Bithynia,  but,  again  prevented 
by  the  Spirit,  was  obliged  to  remain  in  Galatia 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  247 

for  a  time,  after  which  he  passed  by  Mysia 
down  to  Troas  and  thence  into  Europe.  Such 
is  the  simple  narrative  of  the  sixteenth  chapter 
of  Acts.  But  new  significance  attaches  to  this 
narrative  when  we  discover  in  Paul's  letter  to 
the  Galatians  that  the  apostle  preached  the 
Gospel  to  them  the  first  time  "because  of  an 
infirmity  of  the  flesh."  Sickness  seems  to  have 
been  the  manner  in  which  the  will  of  the  Spirit 
was  manifested  in  forbidding  Paul  to  travel 
either  to  the  southwest  or  to  the  north ;  and 
while  sick  in  an  unintended  tarrying-place,  yet 
the  apostle  does  not  mope  and  waste  his  time 
in  idle  regrets  at  the  miscarriage  of  his  plans, 
but  counts  it  rather  an  opportunity  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  the  people  of  Galatia,  and  he  so 
preaches  that  "  churches  "  are  formed,  and  con- 
verts are  rendered  willing  to  pluck  out  their 
eyes  for  him. 

And  so,  by  a  diffused  knowledge  of  the  cir- 
cumstances involved  in  the  brief  Biblical  narra- 
tive, we  see  more  clearly  the  revelation  of 
Christian   character. 

Biblical  criticism  endeavors  to  reconstruct  the 
actual  conditions  and  facts  attending  the  origi- 
nal composition  of  our  sacred  books  :  when  they 
were  written,  how  they  were  written,  and  all  the 
circumstances  of  their  origin,  preservation,  and 
purpose.     From  such  an  attempt,  if  honestly 


248  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

executed,  we  have  nothing  to  fear,  but  every- 
thing to  gain.  If  literary  criticism  can  show, 
and  show  as  facts  and  not  as  conjectures,  that 
the  book  of  Isaiah  was  written  by  two  men  at 
widely  separated  periods  of  time,  that  the  book 
of  Daniel  was  penned  several  hundreds  of  years 
after  the  date  usually  assigned  to  it,  that  the 
Pentateuch  is  a  compilation  from  several  earlier 
sources,  then,  though  we  adjust  our  present 
views  of  the  Bible,  we  shall  be  in  no  sense 
losers,  but  shall  better  know  what  the  Bible 
really  is,  and  shall  thus  come  nearer  to  the  truth. 
As  we  know  better  what  Moses  knew,  or  did  not 
know,  we  shall  be  better  able  to  "bear"  the 
revelation  which  God  has  made  to  us  through 
him. 

Somewhat  more  than  half  a  century  ago  new 
theories  concerning  the  New  Testament  were 
confidently  promulgated  by  certain  critics. 
The  religious  world  was  at  first  greatly  dis- 
turbed ;  but  the  calm  and  critical  investigations 
which  those  theories  evoked  have  but  firmly 
and  incontestibly  established  the  genuineness 
and  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament  writ- 
ings as  a  whole. 

Criticism  simply  seeks  to  reproduce  the  past 
that  we  may  understand  past  processes,  and  thus 
rightly  estimate  present  possessions  inherited 
from  the  past.     Modern  criticism  may  at  times 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  249 

be  overzealous  and  rash ;  she  is  but  a  youthful 
maiden  still.  Her  mission,  however,  is  a  right 
mission,  and  her  final  conclusions,  when  tested, 
turned,  and  tried,  we  need  not  fear,  but  may 
welcome.  She  diffuses  knowledge  that  we  may 
the  more  clearly  discern  truth.  By  our  compre- 
hending better  that  which  is  distant  in  time  and 
space  we  the  better  understand  the  present ; 
indeed,  our  capacity  to  see  spiritual  forces  and 
apprehend  spiritual  truth  becomes  enlarged. 
Knowledge  about  the  Bible,  the  peoples  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  times  of  and  before  the  Bible, 
but  increases  our  ability  to  receive  the  revela- 
tion already  given. 

The  second  line  along  which  revelation  may 
progress  is  through  an  actual  enlargement  of 
human  knowledge,  an  absolute  increase  of  the 
sum  total  of  knowledge  possessed  in  the  world, 
and  not  a  mere  diffusion  of  knowledge.  Most 
of  the  sciences  and  many  of  the  inventions  of 
to-day  give  us  knowledge  absolutely  new  to 
man,  hitherto  possessed  by  none. 

Archbishop  Usher,  who  lived  two  centuries 
ago,  by  computing  the  reigns  of  kings,  the  ages 
of  the  patriarchs,  and  the  generations  of  men  in 
the  Old  Testament  narration,  set  the  creation 
of  the  world  four  thousand  and  four  years 
before  Christ,  about  six  thousand  years  ago. 
But  to-day  we  can  compute  better  than  could 


250  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

Usher.  God  has  set  more  dials  on  creation's 
clock  than  the  periods  of  time  indicated  in  the 
books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles. 

Niagara  Falls,  wearing  away,  inch  by  inch, 
its  rocky  face,  slowly  receding  from  Lake  On- 
tario toward  Lake  Erie,  is  one  indicator  read 
to-day.  The  deposits  of  great  rivers,  at  their 
mouths,  the  action  of  the  tides  upon  the  coast 
lines  of  continents,  the  heat  of  the  earth's 
crust  with  its  rate  of  cooling,  magnetic  con- 
ditions and  chemical  changes  within  the  earth's 
fissures  and  mines,  —  all  these  physical  aspects 
of  the  earth  becoming  known  to-day,  prepare 
for  a  truer  understanding  of  creation's  time  and 
creation's  processes  than  Archbishop  Usher  in 
his  day  could  possibly  have. 

The  story  of  the  rocks,  where  God  has  writ- 
ten a  revelation  through  his  immutable  laws,  as 
vast  strata  have  cooled  from  a  molten  state, 
have  been  overturned  by  their  own  contraction, 
have  been  wrought  upon  by  sun  and  wind  and 
water,  have  been  shattered  by  the  lightning  and 
the  earthquake,  —  this  tale,  God-given,  known 
already  in  part  through  modern  science,  and  to 
be  still  better  known  when  science  has  delved 
yet  more  deeply  into  physical  mysteries,  this 
adds  to  human  capacity  to  receive  the  divine 
revelation.  We  cannot  yet  declare  whether  the 
earth  is  twenty  million  or  one  hundred  million, 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  251 

or  many  thousands  of  millions  of  years  old  — 
we  may  know  by  and  by ;  but  already,  seeing  a 
greater  age  than  six  thousand  years,  we  discern 
more  clearly  the  immensity  of  infinite  might 
working  in  time. 

Charles  Darwin  started  new  lines  of  thought 
in  every  department  of  learning,  and  revolu- 
tionized many  of  the  sciences.  While  himself 
ignoring  supernatural  force  and  law  (and  de- 
ploring, too,  before  his  death,  what  he  had  lost 
thereby),  Darwin  has  given  to  scientists,  phi- 
losophers, and  theologians  basic  conceptions 
concerning  the  manner  of  the  divine  procedure 
in  the  universe  that  have  enlarged  immensely 
the  Christian's  perception  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence and  wisdom.  In  consequence  of  the  lines 
of  thought  and  investigation  started  by  the 
evolutionists,  God  is  no  longer  viewed  as  a 
Creator  who,  far  above  the  earth,  reaches  down 
occasionally  to  touch  and  shape  it  here  and 
there,  creating  now  this  species  and  then  that, 
but  passing  his  existence  amid  the  glories  of  a 
distant  splendor  ;  nor  yet  is  he  conceived  of  as 
one  who,  having  made  the  earth  and  endowed 
it  with  forces  and  laws,  withdraws  from  it  and 
leaves  it  to  run  its  course  uncared  for  by  divine 
supervision,  untouched  by  divine  providence ; 
but  he  is  regarded  as  now  on  earth,  throughout 
the  universe,  personally  present  in  all  forces 


252  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

and  powers  and  laws,  himself  the  present  pre- 
server, energizer,  and  supervisor  of  man,  mind, 
and  matter  in  all  forms.  He  is  not  far  off,  but 
near,  holding  all  things  in  his  hand,  and  ever 
revealing  anew  his  wisdom,  gentleness  and 
love,  in  vegetation,  in  animal  life,  in  all  natural 
beauty,  and  in  all  forces  of  nature. 

We  are  learning  constantly  new  facts  con- 
cerning nature,  and  these  enable  us  the  better 
to  understand  nature's  God,  and  so  the  revela- 
tion of  him  increases.  As  astrology  has  passed 
away,  with  its  superstitions  and  mad  perver- 
sions, astronomy  has  come  to  take  its  place  and 
to  dignify  our  minds  with  a  calmer,  clearer  vision 
of  the  divine  omniscience  and  omnipotence. 
Great  laws  and  grand  possibilities  confront  us 
in  the  mysterious  depths  of  limitless  space. 

In  France,  it  is  reported,  a  fund  has  been 
intrusted  to  the  National  Academy  as  a  prize  to 
be  given  to  the  first  person  who  within  the  next 
twenty  years  succeeds  in  establishing  communi- 
cations between  the  earth  and  some  heavenly 
body.  What  a  suggestion  is  this !  And  it  is 
not  the  idle  fancy  of  some  unbalanced  mind ; 
thitherward  have  many  of  the  most  conserva- 
tive conclusions  of  astronomical  science  pointed 
for  a  long  time.  But  what  a  suggestion ! 
Perhaps  we  shall  soon,  through  some  long- 
distance telephone  of  the  universe,  be  talking 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  253 

with  a  race  of  beings,  who,  in  their  earth,  are  just 
in  the  primitive  age,  and  are  living  still  in  their 
Garden  of  Eden,  sinless  and  undefiled.  Per- 
haps in  other  planets  we  shall  converse  with 
races  who  have  had  their  probationary  period, 
through  ages  exceeding  any  of  which  we  have 
yet  dreamed  on  this  mundane  sphere,  and  who 
can  tell  us,  out  of  an  experience  far  in  advance 
of  ours,  how  the  Gospel  of  salvation  works 
righteousness  on  and  on,  until  sin  in  the  race 
is  eliminated.  Perhaps  we  shall  even  find  that 
heaven  has  more  definite  locations  in  space 
than  now  we  can  conceive  of,  that  the  good, 
by  a  kind  of  transmigration  of  soul,  —  at  least, 
a  transmigration  from  planet  to  planet,  —  live 
on  in  other  worlds  to  work  and  do,  to  help  and 
rejoice,  to  learn  and  know.  Perhaps  the  re- 
deemed soul  must  enlarge  and  develop  so  grad- 
ually that  it  must  have  the  experience  of  other 
worlds  until,  having  seen,  through  all  of  God's 
great  universe  in  all  of  his  great  systems  of 
suns,  all  of  his  vast  works,  and  all  of  his  loving 
providences,  it  shall  at  length  be  able  to  behold 
God  himself,  able  then  to  bear  the  sight  and 
have  personal  knowledge  of  the  Infinite. 

We  live  now  in  mystery.  We  do  not  know 
all.  We  but  feel  the  edges  of  an  unbroken 
ignorance  stretching  out  before  us  in  every 
direction  toward  infinity. 


254  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

"...  fain  to  learn  we  lean  into  the  dark, 
And  grope  to  feel  the  floor  of  the  abyss, 

Or  find  the  secret  boundary  lines  which  mark 
Where  soul  and  matter  kiss." 

But  we  shall  know  more.  Every  day  we  ad- 
vance a  little.  Electricity,  magnetism,  hypno- 
tism, telepathy, —  are  but  mere  words  as  yet, 
even  to  the  keenest,  strictest  scientific  nomen- 
clature. Have  we  a  sixth  sense,  undeveloped, 
yet  now  perchance  pushing  forth  its  slightest 
differentiation  ?  Are  we  yet  to  talk  without 
words  and  without  signs  —  to  read  thought  in 
the  process  of  thinking  —  to  transmit  thought 
without  a  medium  ?  Of  telepathy  Professor 
Drummond  wrote,  "  However  little  we  know  of 
it,  however  remote  we  are  from  it,  whether  it 
ever  be  realized  or  not,  telepathy  is  theoreti- 
cally the  next  stage  in  the  evolution  of  language." 

Shall  we,  perhaps,  find  a  seventh  sense  —  and, 
perhaps,  an  eighth  ?  Are  we  to  be  capable,  as 
a  race,  sometime,  of  knowing  some  truth,  of 
beholding  attributes  of  God,  now  hidden,  now 
unknown,  at  a  time  when  these  fleshly  walls, 
through  which  we  peep  as  through  tiny  cracks, 
shall  be  transparent,  and  matter  shall  be  read 
as  the  mere  index  of  mind  ? 

These  possibilities  almost  appall  one !  And 
they  are  possibilities.  They  are  not  mere  vapid 
imaginings.     They  are  before  us,  in  the  line  of 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  255 

definite  tendencies.  Their  shadows  have  been 
seen ;  their  prophecies,  though  in  whispers  and 
confused,  have  yet  been  heard.  We  shall  grow ; 
we  shall  progress  ;  and,  as  we  know  self  better 
and  all  things  about  us,  we  shall  discern  more 
of  the  Infinite  Being  and  more  of  the  revelation 
which  he  makes  of  himself,  and  of  his  purposes 
to  man.  We  shall  then  be  better  able  to  "  bear  " 
what  he  has  to  say  to  us. 

In  these  two  ways  of  increasing  capacity  we 
are  all  concerned.  Even  the  humblest  human 
being  aids  in  some  way  in  diffusing  knowledge 
and  receives  in  some  measure  the  knowledge 
diffused.  Even  the  humblest  of  us,  also,  though 
perhaps  not  adding  to  the  absolute  increase  of 
the  world's  wisdom,  yet  shares,  to  some  extent, 
in  that  wisdom.  What  we,  as  a  race,  advance 
in,  we,  as  individuals,  have  a  part  of. 

But  there  is  yet  a  third  way  in  which  revela- 
tion may  progress,  and  that  is  by  an  acquire- 
ment of  spiritual  capacity  within  an  individual 
himself.  For  this  no  one  is  dependent  upon 
tidings  brought  by  telegraph,  or  mails,  or  the 
printing  press  ;  nor  upon  discoveries  and  inven- 
tions ;  nor  upon  the  genii^s,  experiments,  in- 
vestigations, and  labors  of  others.  We  work 
out  this  kind  of  increase  by  ourselves,  each 
alone. 

For  spiritual  discernment  we  must  cultivate 


256  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

spiritual  powers.  But  the  methods  and  processes 
of  cultivation  are  manifold. 

Personal  virtues  must  be  developed  first. 
There  is  wisdom,  far  beyond  first  thought,  in 
those  words  of  Jesus,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  The  common 
virtues  which  society  makes  prerequisite  to  her 
approval  are  not  sufficient,  —  honesty,  veracity, 
chastity,  and  general  respectability,  —  but  those 
deeper,  broader,  nobler  virtues  of  kindness, 
patience,  gentleness,  compassion,  charity,  for- 
bearance, long-suffering,  meekness,  humility, 
teachableness,  love.  Such  virtues  as  these  ex- 
pand the  soul.  The  good  see  goodness ;  the 
true  have  an  affinity  for  truth.  It  is  what  a  man 
is  that  determines  his  vision.  The  same  mes- 
sage that  Paul  preached  was  a  savor  of  life  unto 
life  to  some,  but  a  savor  of  death  unto  death  to 
others.  It  was  only  the  servant  who  buried  his 
one  talent  that  said,  "  I  knew  thee  that  thou  art 
an  hard  man."  Those  other  servants  who  had 
cultivated  their  gifts,  had  a  kinder,  truer  con- 
ception of  their  Master,  and  were  admitted  into 
responsibility  and  rejoicing  with  him. 

The  individual  heart  should  ever  seek  to  know 
God  directly.  God  is  a  spirit ;  let  the  mind 
think  of  him  thus.  He  is  omniscient,  omnipres- 
ent, omnipotent,  merciful,  loving ;  we  must 
think  of  him  thus.     He  knows  the  recesses  of 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  257 

every  heart ;  he  is  in  every  home,  in  every  shop, 
on  the  street,  —  with  us  in  all  our  goings  and 
comings.  At  night  we  rest  in  his  keeping ;  in 
the  morning  we  wake  and  walk  in  his  care.  All 
that  is,  is  of  him,  —  the  sunshine,  the  storm, 
winter,  summer,  cold,  heat,  —  all  things  are  of 
God.  He  is  not  in  heaven,  afar  off ;  he  is  here, 
amongst  men.  In  this  manner  should  we  think 
of  him  habitually  and  seek  to  know  him. 

And  no  less  intimately  should  the  individual 
heart  seek  to  know  its  Lord  and  Master,  Jesus. 
A  study  of  his  life  as  it  was  lived  upon  the 
earth  in  that  brief  span  of  fleshly  tabernacling 
constitutes  the  first  preliminary.  A  patient, 
devout  study  alone  will  disclose  the  perfection 
and  loveliness  of  that  life.  And  then  must  one 
realize  that  he  is  risen  ;  he  is  a  living  Saviour ; 
he  is  not  dead  ;  Palestine  cannot  alone  claim  his 
presence.  One  must  dwell  in  thought  upon  his 
love  and  grace  and  compassion,  must  seek  to 
imitate  his  example,  must  take  him  to  mind  and 
heart  by  thought  and  prayer  and  endeavor.  All 
who  so  do  find  his  word  true,  they  know  the 
teaching,  —  that  is,  an  enlarged  understanding 
of  revelation  dawns  upon  them. 

Into  communion  and  fellowship  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  must  the  soul  also  enter.  The  Holy 
Spirit,  promised  by  Christ,  is  not  an  "it,"  but 
a  person.     He  leads  into  all  truth,  calling  truth 


258  THE  METHOD  OF  JESUS. 

to  remembrance ;  he  cheers,  comforts,  inspires. 
"  Did  ye  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  when  ye  be- 
lieved ? "  Have  we  first  realized  that  he  was 
and  is  ?  Have  we  been  ready  to  welcome  him  ? 
Have  we  sought  to  know  him  as  scripture  re- 
veals him  ?  Have  we  listened,  and  hearkened, 
and  heeded  spiritual  influences,  from  both 
within  and  without  ?  The  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit  is  a  dispensation  of  revelation. 

For  growth  and  development  in  the  inner 
nature  men  must  find  companionship  and  joys 
in  the  fellowship  of  the  spiritually  minded.  The 
growth  of  unbelief  is  often  subtle.  A  man  who 
was  once  an  ardent  and  active  Christian,  with  a 
strong  social  nature,  did  nothing  worse  at  first 
than  to  yield  himself  to  frivolous  pleasures  at 
the  very  time  when  spiritual  activities  claimed 
his  attention.  He  meant  nothing  worse  than 
to  go  with  jolly  companions  when  more  serious 
occupations  demanded  his  presence  and  help. 
In  that  man  a  spiritual  degeneracy  set  in.  He 
lost  spiritual  vitality  as  he  ceased  spiritual 
activity,  and  gradually  his  spiritual  discernment 
became  dull,  until  now  he  even  thinks  he  can 
see  no  God.  Pure  and  noble  associations  keep 
the  mind  open  to  purity  and  nobility.  It  was 
when  the  disciples  were  of  "  one  accord  "  in  that 
upper  room  in  Jerusalem  that  pentecostal  power 
and  revelation  came.     Truth  finds  warmth  in 


PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION.  259 

united  hearts.  Fire  burns  only  when  fuel  is 
in  contact.  It  is  easy  to  scatter  a  blaze  so  as 
to  extinguish  the  last  ember  and  the  faintest 
spark. 

Work  for  the  spiritual  conquest  of  the  world 
is  also  essential  for  individual  growth  in  spirit- 
ual capacity.  They  who  give  receive  ;  they  who 
labor  develop.  Exercise  increases  muscle  ;  ac- 
tivity promotes  assimilation.  The  scholar  who 
plods  in  his  study  incessantly  will  not  acquire 
as  much  well-balanced  truth  as  he  who  tempers 
scholarly  seclusion  with  judicious  social  contact. 
He  who  has  ideals  will  never  rectify  and  enlarge 
them  until  he  tests  them  in  life.  But  above  all 
else,  he  who  would  have  spiritual  visions  must 
behold  spiritual  needs,  spiritual  forces,  spiritual 
operations,  and  must  himself  labor  for  spiritual 
ends. 

Ah,  mankind  must  discern  the  reality  of  pure 
spiritual  existence  both  here  and  hereafter,  and 
the  relation  of  this  life  to  the  life  to  come.  In 
the  midst  of  this  worldliness  we  need  frequently 
to  remind  ourselves  that  the  soul  is  more  than 
food  or  clothing  or  fine  houses  or  all  of  these 
material  things  ;  that  as  the  soul  begins  to  live 
now  it  will  live  hereafter ;  that  it  needs  now,  in 
part  at  least,  what  it  will  more  fully  need  and 
experience  hereafter,  —  spiritual  exercises  and 
activities  in  the  fellowship  of  God.    Spirituality 


260  THE  METHOD   OF  JESUS. 

is  possible  now,  in  this  life,  and  may  increase 
throughout  all  this  life,  even  unto  eternity. 

And  so  man  may  look  forward  into  the  future, 
striving  to  grow.  As  human  knowledge  and 
human  capacity  for  knowledge  increase,  God 
can  reveal  unto  man  more  of  his  truth.  His 
revelation  progresses  in  proportion  to  man's  in- 
crease of  capacity  to  receive.  With  hopeful 
expectancy,  therefore,  and  strong  determination 
we  may  all  use  the  words  of  the  Apostle 
Paul : — 

"Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have  ap- 
prehended, but  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting 
those  things  which  are  behind  (as  mere  attain- 
ments), and  reaching  forth  unto  those  that  are 
before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  of  the  prize  of 
the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 

In  the  person  of  Christ,  when  we  know  him 
as  he  is,  shall  each  of  us  find  personal  satisfac- 
tion and  fulfillment.  His  method  is  one  of 
progressive  development  and  growth.  He  does 
not  work  through  sudden  revolution,  but  by 
slower,  surer  evolution. 


INDEX. 


Abgarus,  reputed  corre- 
spondence with  Jesus,  31. 

Agassiz,  Louis,  187. 

Agnosticism,  49,  60. 

Altruism,  211,  212. 

Animal  kingdom,  46,  63, 
64,  85. 

Antinomianism,  13. 

Apperception,  176,  177, 178. 

Arminianism,  68. 

Assimilation,  25,  259. 

Bacteriology,  47. 
Baptism,  33,  98. 
Barnabas,  38. 
Bible,  169,  186, 193,  248,  249. 
Biblical  Criticism,  44,  247- 

249. 
Bradford,  A.  H.,  150. 
Bridgeman,  Laura,  148. 
Brown,  John,  207. 
Buddhism,  228. 
Burritt,  Elihu,  147. 
Bushnell,  Horace,  159. 

Calvinism,  67. 

Canon  of  New  Testament, 

36. 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  232. 


Christian  Science,  24. 
Church,  10,  34,  39. 
Consecutiveness,  65,  69,  74, 

77,78. 
Conservatism,  117,  226,  232, 

238. 
Conversion,  227,  237. 
Criticism  of  the  Bible,  44, 

247-249.      See    Biblical 

Criticism. 

Darwin,    Charles,    20,  47, 

146,  251. 
Demosthenes,  147. 
Destructiveness,  72,  73,  80. 
Discipline,  160,  163,  175. 
Drummond,  Henry,  254. 

Ecclesiasticism,  10,  93. 
Election,  67. 
Emotional  piety,  105. 
Environment,  145,  150, 168, 

191. 
Ethics  of  Jesus,  49,  60. 
Euripides,  149. 
Evil,  the  problem  of,  159. 
Evils  classified,  154-156. 
Evolution,   23,  69,   72,  82, 

83,  251,  260. 


261 


262 


INDEX. 


Faith,  u,  68,  96,  240. 
Family,  58. 
Fasting,  70,  71,  163. 
Fatherhood  of  God,  67. 
Franklin,  Benj.,  147. 

Garfield,  J.  A.,  146. 
Garrison,  W.  L.,  207. 
Genius,  149. 
Gentleness,  209-212. 
Gordon,  G.  A.,  149. 
Gospels,  27,  30,  36,  37,  193. 
Grant,  U.  S.,  146. 
Greeley,  Horace,  147. 
Growth,   116-119,  227-231. 
237,  241-260. 

Habits,  117,  118. 
Haeckel,  146. 
Harnack,  A.,  36. 
Health,  51,  52,  60. 
Heredity,  143-H6,  i49>  '5°» 

236. 
Holy  Spirit,  257. 

Immanence  of  God,    112- 

116,  251,  257. 
Immortality,  18,  253. 
Inspiration,  114,  115. 
Involution,  23. 

James,  Epistle  of,  36. 
Jesus,  emphasizes  himself, 
13,  14,  19,  188. 

impartation  of,  24. 

personality  of,  17. 


Jesus,  physical  appearance, 

53,  54. 
resurrection  of,  19. 
writings  of,   31,  32, 
192. 
John,  Baptist,  30,  91-94, 97. 
John,  Evangelist,  39,  245. 
John,  Gospel  of,  37. 
Judas,  168,  244. 
Jukes,  143,  144. 

Keller,  Helen,  147. 
Kingdom  of  God,  28,  88- 

93,  99,  100,  in,  216,  222, 

241. 
Knowledge,  109,  220,  245, 

249. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  147. 
Love  of  God,  9. 

of  mother,  16. 
Luther,   Martin,    124,    133, 
163,  169. 

Mann,  Horace,  147. 
Mental  quickening,  53,  56, 

60. 
Miller,  Hugh,  147. 
Monasticism,  76,  103. 
Morality,  12,  105,  118. 

Nebular  hypothesis,  83,  84. 
Nicene  creed,  11. 

Obedience,  no,   in,   132- 
136,  156,  214,  223. 


INDEX. 


263 


Old  age,  156,  157. 
Optimism,  43,  80,  81,  101, 
116,  141. 

Paul,  11,  12,15,  36,  37,  38, 

94,  123,  124,  125, 183, 184, 

242,  243,  246. 

Peace,   121-136,    162,    163, 

199-213,  238. 

of  indifference,  201, 

203-206. 
of  right  relations, 

201,  206-212. 
of  surrender,   201- 
203. 
Pedagogy,  65. 
Personality  in  religion,  17, 

i9>  25>  37,  38,  6l,  64. 
Pessimism,   140,    141,    142, 

167. 
Peter,  15,  37,  39,  126,  183, 

184,  192,  242,  243,  245. 
Philip,  15,  37,  195. 
Phillips,  Wendell,  207. 
Pilate,  169. 

Preaching,  of  Jesus,  14, 28, 
88,  92. 
of  apostles,  14, 

15,  195. 
call  to  preach, 

Problem  of  evil,  159. 

Regeneration,    87,   88,  93, 

94,  237. 
Renan,  73. 


Resurrection,  19. 
Revelation,   186-188,    240- 

260. 
Rounds,  W.  M.  F.,  149. 

Sabbath    observance,    43, 

76. 
Sanctification,  237. 
Scantiness  of  New  Testa- 
ment record,  27, 30. 
Schurz,  Carl,  190. 
Science  and  Religion,  50, 

51,  66,  109,  186. 
Self-made  men,  161. 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  11, 

68,  71. 
Simeon  Stylites,  164. 
Simon  Magus,  169. 
Social  life,  57,   58,-  59,  77, 

78,  92,  107,  244. 
Sociology,  66,  70,  90,  130. 
Sophocles,  149. 
Spiritual  life,  103-120,  255- 

260. 
Spiritual  presence,  18,  112. 
Spencer,    Herbert,   48,  49, 

50,  59,  60,  86,  146. 
Spontaneous     generation, 

48,  63,  85. 
Stephen,  15,  123. 

Telepathy,  254. 
Temperance,  70. 
Theology,  place  of,  12. 
Thessalonians,  epistles  to, 
36,  243,  244. 


264 


INDEX. 


Todd,  John,  150. 
Tolstoi',  Leo,  245. 
Trinity,  67. 
Trust,  132-136. 
Truth,  germinant,  23,  69. 

the  goal,  19,  21. 

harmonious,  51, 

partial,  93. 

Universalism,  180, 181. 
Usher,    Archbishop,    249, 
250. 


Vedas,  149. 

Vegetable  Kingdom,  46, 85. 

Victory,  137-153- 

Watson,  John,  159. 
Webster,  Daniel,  147. 
Weissmann,  146. 
Whittier,  John  Greenleaf, 

147. 
Will,  146-149,  150. 
Works,  12,  68,  130. 


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